CNN panel hammers Trump for giving shady Chinese company a 'sweet deal' while shafting Canada

A CNN panel on Thursday hammered President Donald Trump for cutting a deal to bail out Chinese telecom giant ZTE, which in the past has spied on Americans and violated American sanctions against North Korea.

During the discussion, former Hillary Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle said she was absolutely baffled that Trump would let ZTE off the hook for repeatedly harming American security interests, and she said she couldn't figure out why someone who so vociferously attacked China during his presidential campaign was going easy on them now.

"Is it because, you know, President Xi really feted him when he went to visit and, you know, threw a parade for him?" she asked. "Or is it because Ivanka Trump just got some new patents from China?"

At the same time, Doyle noted Trump has infuriated key American allies such as Canada and Mexico by hammering them with tariffs that will harm their economies.

"It doesn't make sense why he's doing this and why he's doing this now while he's actually punishing our allies," she said. "China is an adversary. Right now he's punishing our allies, Canada, Mexico with tariffs. So it just doesn't make sense politically for him or for our country."

Host Brianna Keilar then asked Republican strategist Doug Heye why Trump would give China a "sweet deal" while angering our allies -- and he said he was similarly baffled.

"When we talk to our allies, they're not laughing at us, they're concerned about the direction moving forward," he said.

Watch the video below.