At a rally in Claremont, New Hampshire, on November 11, 2023, Donald Trump praised Mao Zedong for ending the Opium Wars
“…And we’re becoming a drug haven. You know, China many years ago was being taken over by much smaller countries because they were all drugged out on the poppy fields, the poppy, the drugs, heroin, different drugs, but they were all drugged out." (00:33:35–00:33:54)
"The nation was drugged out. And then along came a very powerful leader. You know who that is? And he said no more. And from that time, pretty much until now, they’ve been strong. But they were all drugged out, and they were — I mean, our nation’s becoming that way, OK? Our nation’s becoming that way. You look at our nation as a — that you almost say, how does it survive when so many people are absolutely sick from drugs and drug overdose and all of the things that go with it? Our nation — remember, China was taken over by many different forces, much smaller, much weaker than them.” (00:33:54–00:34:39)
Full transcript source (Factbase / Roll Call)
Full rally video (so you can watch the exact moment):