Trump's top economic aide just made a stunning admission about the president's dealings with China

White House Director of Economic Policy Larry Kudlow made a stunning admission on Wednesday as he was discussing President Donald Trump's trade negotiations with China.

Eamon Javers, a CNBC journalist covering the economy, reported on the remarks Kudlow made to a group of reporters. Kudlow said that Henry Kissinger, President Richard Nixon's former secretary of State, had recently been to the White House — and he has also recently met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping twice.

"I asked if Kissinger is playing a back channel role in trade talks," Javers said.

“Well, now you're getting into the family jewels,” Kudlow responded.

This alone is a jarring revelation. Kissinger has been persuasively accused of international war crimes as he has enabled dictators and mass atrocities abroad. Having ties to Kissinger, let alone having him actively work to shape policy, should be toxic for any sitting politician.

And then he went on:

Of course, it's no secret that Trump doesn't care about human rights abuses in China — or anywhere. Nothing about his moves on foreign policy or his public statements have given any indication that he genuinely cares about countering authoritarian regimes, promoting democracy, or empowering the rights of minorities. And Trump openly embraces and lauds brutal rulers like Xi, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and North Korea's Kim Jong-un, while often spurning the leaders of democratic allies of the United States.

But still, Kudlow's caveat aside, it was remarkable for a top adviser to the president to admit on the record that the Chinese prefer Trump over Democrats because he doesn't "go on about human rights and other things."