By publicly egging on China to investigate a Democratic political rival, Trump was amplifying the message he’d delivered in private to the president of Ukraine. That message, revealed by a government whistleblower, has spawned the impeachment investigation by the House into whether he abused his office for personal political gain. Trump, who has defended his contact with Ukraine as “perfect,” went further in expanding his request to China, a communist nation world power that has much at stake in its relationship with the United States in an ongoing trade war.