Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed criticism that he was caving to China's trade demands to save Chinese telecommunications company ZTE.

The President touched off a new controversy over the weekend when he announced on Twitter that he was working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to give ZTE "a way to get back into business, fast," adding that he had instructed the US Commerce Department to "get it done."

"Nothing has happened with ZTE except as it pertains to the larger trade deal," Trump tweeted Wednesday, singling out The Washington Post and CNN for their coverage. "Our country has been losing hundreds of billions of dollars a year with China."

He continued, "We have not seen China's demands yet, which should be few in that previous U.S. Administrations have done so poorly in negotiating. China has seen our demands. There has been no folding as the media would love people to believe, the meetings haven't even started yet! The U.S. has very little to give, because it has given so much over the years. China has much to give!"

The Washington Post and CNN have typically written false stories about our trade negotiations with China. Nothing has happened with ZTE except as it pertains to the larger trade deal. Our country has been losing hundreds of billions of dollars a year with China... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2018

...haven't even started yet! The U.S. has very little to give, because it has given so much over the years. China has much to give! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2018

On Tuesday, Josh Rogin, who also is a CNN contributor, wrote in The Washington Post that Trump "(undermined) his own objectives for no visible gain."

Read More