White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, on Wednesday afternoon, pointed back to Hegseth’s statement and acknowledged that President Donald Trump had been “very tough on China” when asked about the row.

The spat came as Trump escalated his tariffs on foreign enemies and allies. Trump slapped 10% tariffs on Chinese imports in February, which doubled to 20% this week. China responded with 15% tariffs on farm exports coming from the U.S. and sent out a disturbing social media post as Trump wrapped up his address to a joint session of Congress.

“If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” the embassy said in a statement posted on March 4.

Trump mentioned China six times during Tuesday night’s speech, all of which were in the context of trade relations and tariffs.

“China’s average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them,” Trump said at one point, adding, “This system is not fair to the United States and never was.”

He also bragged about the trade actions he took against China during his first term, hailed Apple for building new plants in the U.S. “instead of in China,” and said the U.S. would be taking the Panama Canal back from China.

That apparently prompted the post on X, in which the Chinese Embassy repeated a statement attributed to spokesman Lin Jian earlier in the day.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said after the speech that Trump is taking on the country’s enemies and that the U.S. will not back down.

“This threat of war from China is extremely escalatory, but we shouldn’t be surprised,” Risch said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “This is how China responds when America finally pushes back on its threats to our security and prosperity. I will continue to support the president’s tough approach to China.”

National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes echoed Risch’s stance.

“The president is ending wars, not starting them,” Hughes said. “He wants China to prioritize eliminating the fentanyl supply chain, which originates in China and kills thousands of Americans every month.”

China rejected claims that it is responsible for fentanyl in the U.S. and called such statements a “smear.”

Seven takeaways from Trump’s combative joint address to Congress

“The U.S., not anyone else, is responsible for the fentanyl crisis inside the U.S.,” Jian said. “In the spirit of humanity and goodwill towards the American people, we have taken robust steps to assist the U.S. in dealing with the issue. Instead of recognizing our efforts, the U.S. has sought to smear and shift blame to China and is seeking to pressure and blackmail China with tariff hikes.”

The Chinese Embassy said the way to solve the fentanyl problem would be to consult with China and for the two countries to treat each other as equals, which is a plea that Trump is unlikely to entertain.