Chinese government baffled by how to interpret Trump tweets: Like 'some alternative universe'

If many native English speakers have trouble making sense of President Donald Trump's tweets, imagine the difficulty of having to translate them into Chinese.

Via Newsweek, an editorial in China's state run newspaper China Daily expressed bewilderment this week that Trump believes the Chinese government hacked into the private email server that Hillary Clinton used while she served as secretary of state.

"There are few things more disconcerting than a tweet by the U.S. President as they initially seem to accord to reality but then quickly turn into messages from some alternative universe," the publication wrote.

The editorial then argued that Trump is trying to attack China because he needs a foe heading into the 2018 midterm elections -- although the more likely explanation is that the president was simply responding angrily to something he had just watched on Fox News.

"China, against whom he is launching a trade war, is an easy candidate for that role, since it has long been demonized by US politicians," the editorial claim, while going on to note that the lack of evidence to support his claims wouldn't stop Trump "from smearing China's image as he desperately needs a scapegoat in the run-up to the midterm elections, so he can divert public attention from the troubles the White House has become mired in."