Donald Trump also charged that Germany is "delinquent" in its contributions to NATO.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that China wants a trade deal with the United States because its economy is weakening.

"China's economy is going down the tubes -- they want to make a deal," Trump said in an interview with Fox Business News.

He also charged that Germany is "delinquent" in its contributions to NATO, accusing the US ally of stinting on defense while it pays Russia billions of dollars for energy.

"So Germany is paying Russia billions and billions of dollars for energy, okay," he said in the interview.

"So they are giving Russia billions of dollars yet we are supposed to protect Germany and Germany is delinquent! okay?" he said.