WASHINGTON – Former GOP Presidential Candidate Herman Cain told PJM that he rates President Trump’s job performance an A minus, citing the passage of tax reform, the ongoing trade negotiations with countries like China and regulatory reform.

“We’re not in a trade war. We’re in trade negotiations. This is what a lot of people don’t understand. There’s a difference between negotiations and a war. We’re not in trade wars. This president understands negotiations,” Cain said during a recent interview after a “Big Tech Vs. Free Speech: Conservatives Push Back on Blacklisting” discussion at the National Press Club.

“For example, China, he said they want to move the goal posts. They wanted to start all over and they thought they were close to a deal. Well, maybe some of our previous presidents folded like a blanket but he didn’t,” added Cain, who Trump was considering for a Federal Reserve Board position before Cain withdrew from the nomination process.

Cain said making progress on immigration reform has been difficult for Trump because the Democrats are seeking to make his job as “chaotic and as challenging as they possibly can.”

Cain pushed back on Democrats who have labeled Trump racist.

“It is not valid whatsoever. Look, I knew Donald Trump before he was president of the United States and he wasn’t racist before he became president and he’s not racist now — that is a false narrative that was ginned up and generated by people who can’t accept the fact that he won the presidency,” said Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.

Cain recalled someone recently asking him what Trump has done for black people. Referring to the state of the economy, Cain said, “He’s helped all people, period” and “he has done more for prison reform than any other president of the last 4 or 5 but no, that’s not what makes the news.”

Watch the full video clip with Cain on Trump’s job performance: