Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Wednesday that he now believes that China is intentionally stalling in trade talks with the U.S. in the hopes that a Democrat is elected in 2020 to replace President Trump.

The theory is one that Trump has repeatedly expressed.

"Looks like Pres Xi is taking the traditional 'long view' abt the trade negotiations counting on a Trump defeat in 2020 and having a more pliable Democrat to bargain with. My advice to Xi fr a lowly Senator is Chinese stalling will reelect Trump," Grassley tweeted. "Pres Xi" is a reference Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Looks like Pres Xi is taking the traditional “long view” abt the trade negotiations counting on a Trump defeat in 2020 and having a more pliable Democrat to bargain with. My advice to Xi fr a lowly Senator is Chinese stalling will reelect Trump — ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) May 22, 2019

Trump has tweeted out this same theory on at least two occasions this month. "I think that China felt they were being beaten so badly in the recent negotiation that they may as well wait around for the next election, 2020, to see if they could get lucky & have a Democrat win," he said in a May 11 tweet.

The president and White House officials have repeatedly claimed they were close to a deal with China last month when Beijing attempted to walk back concessions it had previously made, prompting the Trump administration to raise its tariffs on Chinese goods. Beijing has disputed that it ever made the concessions the administration claims.