US ambassador to China Terry Branstad is leaving his post before the November election in part because President Donald Trump urged the former governor of Iowa to come back and help him campaign, multiple sources told CNN Monday.
Because Branstad always intended to serve only one term, his departure was expected, according to multiple administration officials and people familiar with his thinking. But as of a few weeks ago, Branstad was planning to remain in Beijing until after the election, according to two sources familiar. That changed when Trump asked Branstad to come back to the US and campaign for him after more than three years in Beijing.
The news comes amid increasing tensions between the US and China on several fronts. The Chinese government announced on Friday it would be imposing unspecified restrictions on senior US diplomats and personnel inside China after Washington put in place a similar measure targeting Beijing's diplomatic corps on September 3.
Branstad has been friends with Chinese President Xi Jinping since the 1980s, though his role as ambassador became increasingly fraught in recent months as the US-China relationship frayed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Branstad was ultimately never able to leverage the personal relationship to benefit the bilateral relations.
Trump referenced the outgoing ambassador and his son Eric Branstad -- who is a senior adviser to Trump Victory 2020, the joint fundraising committee between the campaign and the Republican National Committee -- during a phone call with Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.
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