Former U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that the U.S. losing a currency war against China would be like America losing a world war. “We’ll be a second-tier country,” Trump cautioned, adding that the U.S. dollar is “what makes us powerful and strong.”

“Iran gets together with Saudi Arabia through China. And China is taking over … And, I heard a couple of people say, ‘Well, we’ll never lose a dollar standard.’ Are they kidding?” he said, elaborating:

China wants to change the standard, the currency standard. And if that happens, that’s like losing a world war. We’ll be a second-tier country.