The former head of the Dutch central bank, Nout Wellink, has called US president Donald Trump an “economic and political terrorist” for unleashing a trade war with China and pivoting towards Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Wellink, who joined the board of Bank of China after stepping down from DNB in 2012, told NOS political analysis show Buitenhof that the Chinese were better placed than the US to survive a tariff dispute despite being hit by 145% tariffs.

“The Chinese have been preparing methodically,” Wellink said. “Actually they were already doing so when I was working there.

“They’ve been diverting trade flows away from America. They’re aware that technology is going to be cut off and they’ll have to develop their own.”

Wellink, 81, said “nobody wins” in a trade war, but the Chinese were better organised, having set up specialist teams before last year’s US presidential election to examine the consequences if Trump won the White House.

“For a long time I’ve been a bit annoyed about Trump being described as a brilliant businessman who plays high stakes and then comes up with a deal,” he said.

“I’ve taken a very different view from the beginning. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck. I’ve called him an economic and political terrorist.

Gaza “Riviera”

“To take one thing: USAID. If you cancel that overnight, you’ll know that independent research institutions have calculated that it saves the lives of several million people a year. It’s a form of terrorism.”

Wellink also described the president’s handling of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as “chaotic”, with Trump calling for Ukraine to surrender Crimea and other occupied territories as part of a peace deal with Russia.

He has also talked of building a “riviera” on the destroyed Palestinian territories and threatened to bomb Iran if it refuses to discuss constraining its nuclear programme.

“If this man keeps up this kind of geopolitical approach in the context of Iran and especially China, we should all worry about how it’s going to end,” Wellink said.

But the veteran banker was sceptical about the idea that Trump could sack Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve after the two men clashed over Powell’s reluctance to cut interest rates.

“I don’t think it will happen, quite aside from the fact that it’s almost impossible to dismiss him,” Wellink said.

Wellink said the threat of further market turbulence appeared to have forced Trump into a U-turn. “But his changes of heart usually don’t last very long, I must say,” he added.