Trump said 'he would rather not say' whether China was committing human rights abuses against Uighurs

• Trump refused to condemn China's treatment of Uighur Muslims during an interview for a new book.
• "I would rather not say at this moment," Trump told the authors.

Former President Donald Trump refused to confirm his own administration's findings that China is brutally abusing Uighur Muslims during an interview with the authors of a new book.

"Where," Trump asked New York Times political reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns during their interview with him for their book "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future."

Trump continued, "I would rather not say at this moment, but I will let you know, maybe before your book."

Trump's hesitation to criticize China isn't new, but it underlines how the president who sparked a trade war between the world's two largest economies will still pull his punches on subjects closely watched by the Chinese Communist Party.

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton wrote in his 2020 memoir that Trump went so far as to praise the building of determent camps for Uighurs. Trump reportedly made those comments during a private 2019 meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Most of the West has roundly criticized China's treatment of Uighurs, including Trump's own administration. There are about 11 million Uighurs in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Human rights organizations have documented numerous examples of cruel detainment and re-education efforts aimed at stamping out what Chinese leaders view as religious extremism.

The State Department declared on Trump's last full day in office that China was committing genocide and crimes against humanity.

"I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party-state," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement at the time.