Trump names envoy to Beijing, AI-crypto czar

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he has selected former Sen David Perdue of Georgia to serve as his ambassador to China, leaning on a former business executive turned politician to serve as the administration’s envoy to America’s most potent economic and military adversary.

Perdue pushed Trump’s debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for Georgia governor.

During his time in the Senate, Perdue was labelled as “anti-China” in a 2019 Chinese think tank report. The former Georgia lawmaker advocated that the US needed to build a more robust naval force to cope with threats, including from China.

Economic tensions will be a big part of the US-China picture for the new administration.

Trump has threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders.

Trump on Thursday also said he was appointing former PayPal Chief Operating Officer David Sacks as his “White House AI & Crypto Czar”. “He will work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the US,” Trump said. The crypto czar and other officials in Trump’s incoming administration are expected to reshape state policy on digital currency along with a newly created crypto advisory council.

Trump's tech backers generally want to see minimal regulation around artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, saying Washington would throttle growing innovative sectors with excessive rules. Trump — who once labeled crypto a scam — embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the US the "crypto capital of the planet" and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.