Chicago’s Morning Answer hosts Jeanne Ives and Jim Iuorio, filling in for Dan Proft, continued their coverage of President Trump’s recent primetime address on election security, playing additional excerpts in which Trump cited declassified CIA reporting alleging that the Chinese Communist Party developed a coordinated strategy beginning in 2018 to weaken his political standing, influence the 2018 midterms and 2020 presidential election, and undermine public confidence in his administration. The cited documents further allege that Chinese operatives sought to leverage relationships with American business leaders and offered payments to journalists in exchange for negative coverage of the president.
Ives and Iuorio welcomed Gordon Chang, author of Plan Red: China’s Project to Destroy America, to discuss the implications of the speech. Chang said Trump’s remarks represented the most direct presidential rhetoric toward China since the Eisenhower administration, describing it as a meaningful departure in American policy following what he characterized as an earlier period of relative restraint, including a visit to Beijing in which Chang said Chinese President Xi Jinping attempted to publicly diminish Trump. Chang argued that China’s activity extends well beyond election interference into broader infrastructure, and cited the concept of “unrestricted warfare,” a term he traced to a 1999 book by two Chinese air force colonels arguing that China could pursue any means necessary to weaken the United States, including support for figures like Osama bin Laden prior to the September 11th attacks.
Asked whether recent American actions involving Venezuela and the Strait of Hormuz represent an effective counter to Chinese influence, Chang argued that both regions matter significantly to China’s oil supply, noting that Venezuela’s government had organized migrant caravans toward the United States during the previous administration, and that American operations in Panama targeting Chinese-linked infrastructure near the canal reflect a broader effort to secure strategically vital waterways from Chinese influence.
Much of the conversation focused on Chinese involvement in U.S. energy and data infrastructure, with Iuorio raising continued concerns about GOTION, a Chinese-linked battery manufacturer with a planned facility in Manteno, Illinois. Iuorio noted a recent partnership between GOTION and Richardson Electronics of LaFox, Illinois, to build grid-scale batteries and battery systems intended for data centers, citing reporting from Energy Storage News describing GOTION as a China-headquartered firm despite the company’s public denials of Chinese ownership. Chang agreed that Chinese-linked firms should not play a role in critical American infrastructure, warning that China has previously demonstrated the ability to remotely manipulate connected devices in solar energy installations and could apply similar capabilities to data center infrastructure.
Chang also addressed a suggestion raised earlier in the show by election attorney Cleta Mitchell that Chinese influence campaigns may extend into legacy American news media. He said that while he could not speak to specific allegations involving individual networks, he noted that several major media platforms declined to cover Trump’s address in real time, citing assumptions that the president would misrepresent the 2020 election, coverage decisions he argued warrant an apology to the public once the substance of the speech is fully reviewed.
Closing the interview, Chang addressed rising tensions between China and Taiwan, saying Beijing has recently asserted territorial claims over portions of the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan that he characterized as legally unfounded, and noted increasingly frequent Chinese naval and air patrols circling the island, which he said reflect an evolving effort to pressure and potentially blockade Taiwan.