Mark Meadows: Trump 'willing to negotiate' with China but will 'hold them accountable'

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Mark Meadows on taking on China, the legacy of John Lewis, chaos in major US cities

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows joins 'Justice with Judge Jeanine.'

President Trump plans to hold China accountable for its actions, including the coronavirus pandemic, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Saturday night.

Meadows, 60, a former Republican congressman from North Carolina who has held the key White House job since March 31, shared his views during an appearance on Fox News' "Justice with Judge Jeanine."

"When we look at the enemy and what China -- and really the China government -- did to the American people by hiding the facts, we're having to pay the consequences for their lack of transparency," Meadows said. "And the American people are just not going to sit back and take it. And I can tell you, this president is not going to do that either."

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Host Jeanine Pirro asked Meadows what types of restrictions the Trump administration would levy against the Communist nation.

"Basically, it's trying to make sure that Hong Kong doesn't get special preferential treatment," Meadows responded. "We're gonna treat them just like we would any other city in China.

"But more importantly, this president is willing to tackle it because what they're saying is, is that they don't value freedom and democracy. We see that from the way that they've conducted themselves -- not only with regards to the transparency in this virus epidemic that we're now facing, before it's in every city across the country and indeed around the world.

"But we also see it in the way that Attorney General Barr laid out, when they look at it, stealing our intellectual property, when they really are not being good corporate citizens," Meadows said. "And I can tell you this president is willing to negotiate with them, but he's also willing to hold them accountable if they're not willing to live up to the deal as he's put forth."

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Earlier in the week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. would impose sanctions on some employees of Chinese tech companies, such as Huawei, over their alleged role in "facilitating human rights abuses."

Pompeo told reporters that visa restrictions would be placed on some employees of Chinese technology companies that provide "material support to regimes engaging in human rights violations and abuses globally."

Pompeo later tweeted the limits would cover workers "involved in providing surveillance equipment to repressive regimes." He made clear this would include the Chinese government.

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Meadows said it was time to bring supply chains back to the United States, promising additional actions.

"This president is not going to stand up for it, this administration is not going to do that," Meadows said. "And so you'll see additional actions that are coming as we start to bring back that manufacturing, protect American jobs and make sure that we hold China accountable."

Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.