United States President Donald Trump on Friday said he wanted to stop giving subsidies to growing economies such as India and China because he wanted the United States, which he claims is a developing nation, to grow the fastest. Trump was speaking at an event in North Dakota’s Fargo city.

“We have some of these countries that are considered growing economies,” Trump said. “Some countries that have not matured enough yet, so we are paying them subsidies. Whole thing is crazy. Like India, like China, like others we say, ‘oh, they’re growing actually’.”

Since these countries call themselves “developing nations”, they receive subsidies under that category, the president added. “We have to pay them money. This whole thing is crazy, but we’re going to stop it,” he said. “We are a developing nation, too, OK? We are. As far as I’m concerned, we are a developing nation. I want to be put down in that category because we are growing, too. We are going to grow faster than anybody.”

Trump also attacked the World Trade Organisation and called it the “worst” body, which allowed China to become a “great economic power”. He added: “We can’t let China take $500 billion a year out of the United States and rebuild itself.”