Donald Trump attacks China using 'Wuhan virus' slur as he says he will start stripping Hong Kong of its privileges after Beijing imposed new security law - but steps back from full-scale trade war

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President Donald Trump blasted China in angry remarks at China's 'malfeasance' from the White House Rose Garden Friday where he nevertheless appeared to hold back from announcing tough new sanctions. 

Trump accused China of engaging in 'Illicit espionage to steal our industrial secrets' and announced the U.S. would suspend entry here of Chinese nationals deemed 'security risks.' 

He also confirmed language he has made in statements and that his secretary of state has transmitted to Congress that Hong Kong no longer enjoys autonomous status in light of China's new national law cracking down there.

President Donald Trump makes an announcement about U.S. trade relations with China and Hong Kong in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., May 29, 2020.He accused China of 'malfeasance' and announced new moves for treatment of Hong Kong

But he also tempered his language dealing with how the U.S. would proceed as it relates to the territory's special economic status.

He said he was beginning 'the process of eliminating policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment.'

He mentioned areas including extradition, export controls, and dual use technologies – saying there would be 'few exceptions.'

He also said the State Department would be issuing a new travel advisory, a mostly symbolic step, to reflect likely surveillance and possible punishment by Chinese security services to Americans traveling there.

Markets jumped immediately following his remarks. Not included were tough measures targeting Chinese government individuals or financial institutions, or measures that otherwise stripped away provisions from the 'Phase One' U.S.-China trade deal.

Pro-democracy supporters scuffle with riot police during an detention at a rally in Causeway Bay district on May 27, 2020 in Hong Kong, China

Medical workers prepare to transfer a COVID-19 patient in severe and critical condition who is undergoing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward at the Zhongfaxincheng campus of Tongji Hospital affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan

Trump once again accused China of deliberately seeding the world with the coronavirus, which he once again termed the 'Wuhan virus' in termination that has brought condemnation from critics who call it a racist slur.

'The Chinese government has continually violated tis promises and so many other nations. These plain facts cannot be overlooked or swept aside,' Trump said. 

'The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government. China's cover-up of the Wuhan virus allowed the disease to spread all over the world, instigating a global pandemic that has caused more than 100,000 American lives,' he said.

Trump said he was ending the U.S. relationship with the World Health Organization, which he has described as overly influenced by China.  

Earlier, Trump kept the world guessing about what economic steps he is planning to punish Beijing, simply tweeting 'China!' in an early Friday tweet.

The brief exclamation came just after 9 am, after Trump had attacked Twitter for its decision for his post about Minneapolis as 'glorifying violence' after he wrote: 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts.'

A White House presidential press conference was set for Friday, although there was confusion when Trump indicated he would have one but it didn't appear on the official schedule published Thursday.  

Trump tore into China while surrounded by members of his team. But he didn't take questions and didn't comment on the clash in Minneapolis 

 President Trump said Thursday that he planned to hold a press conference Friday about China, although it isn't on his public schedule 

He holds a roundtable with 'industry executives' at 4 pm where the president could choose to answer questions from White House pool reporters. 

'We'll be announcing what we're doing tomorrow with respect to China and we are not happy with China,' Trump said Thursday. 

The New York Times reported Thursday that the U.S. plans to expel thousands of Chinese graduate students and researchers with 'direct ties' to the regime's People's Liberation Army.

There are an estimated 36,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S. – in an exchange that allows visiting students to build intellectual capital in the American university system while helping keep U.S. schools afloat with higher outside tuition prices. The Chinese state helps determine which students get the chance to study abroad. 

China's legislature endorsed a national security law for Hong Kong on Thursday that has strained relations with the United States and Britain

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wouldn't confirm policy changes to Fox News host Laura Ingraham

Hong Kong riot police fire tear gas as hundreds of protesters march along a downtown street during a pro-democracy protest against Beijing's national security legislation in Hong Kong, Sunday, May 24, 2020. Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp has sharply criticised China's move to enact national security legislation in the semi-autonomous territory. They say it goes against the 'one country, two systems' framework that promises the city freedoms not found on the mainland

President Trump tweeted 'China!' without explanation Friday, with expectations he would announce new policy moves to protest the new national law for Hong Kong

Pompeo brushed off concerns about a potential 'Red Scare' or racist discrimination against Chinese when Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked him about it.

'Laura, I'm not surprised to hear that from The New York Times, frankly. We're taking seriously the threat that students that come here who have connections deeply to the Chinese state, they shouldn't be here in our schools spying,' he said. 

'As a former CIA director, I take seriously the threat of espionage inside of our country. We know we have this challenge. President Trump, I am confident, is going to take that on. I don't want to get in front of what he's going to say tomorrow, but the American people should know that the Chinese Communist Party has worked to have enormous influence here in the United States,' Pompeo continued.

Trump referenced China after attacking Twitter over its new policy

'This isn't a 'Red scare' and this isn't racist. The Chinese people are great people. This is like the days of the Soviet Union; this is a communist, tyrannical regime that poses real risks to the United States. And we have an obligation – a duty – to make sure that students who are coming here to study, to take the benefits of coming to America to learn and to benefit from what we can provide to them, aren't acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party,' he said. 

 Trump is also considering targeted travel and financial sanctions against Chinese officials in protest of Beijing's new national law cracking down on Hong Kong. 

Pompeo certified to Congress this week that Hong Kong can no longer be considered autonomous, given China's actions. The territory enjoys special trade privileges under its current agreement with China.

'We'll be announcing what we're doing tomorrow with respect to China and we are not happy with China,' Trump told reporters at an unrelated event Thursday. 'We are not happy with what's happened. All over the world people are suffering, 186 countries. All over the world they´re suffering. We´re not happy,' he said.

The Dow Jones average dropped 150 points in early trading amid fears of a resumption in the trade war. Trump has also accused China of foul play in the spread of the coronavirus.