President Donald Trump has asserted that Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him amid ongoing tensions over tariffs between the United States and China, despite Beijing’s denial that trade negotiations are currently taking place.
In an interview with Time magazine released early on Friday morning, ahead of the milestone 100th day of his second term, Trump was asked whether he would initiate a call to President Xi if the Chinese leader had not reached out first. “No,” Trump replied, repeating his refusal when pressed. When asked if Xi had indeed called him, Trump confirmed, “Yep. He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf.”
Trump declined to comment on whether it would have been a sign of weakness for the US president to make the first move, instead reiterating a comparison he has often used in recent days. “But I am this giant store,” he said. “It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there. And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, if you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.”
Shortly after the interview’s release at 6 a.m. on Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry took to social media to counter the claim, tweeting, “China and the U.S. are NOT having any consultation or negotiation on #tariffs. The U.S. should stop creating confusion.”
Later that morning, as he and First Lady Melania Trump left the White House to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome, Trump reiterated his claim of multiple conversations with Xi, stating, “I spoke to him numerous times.” When asked specifically if the talks had taken place since the United States imposed a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods, Trump said, “I don’t – I don’t want to comment on that.” He added, “But I’ve spoken to him many times.” When pressed for details on the timing and content of the discussions, the president declined to provide specifics, saying, “I’ll let you know at the appropriate time. Let’s see if we can make a deal.”
The day before, during a press encounter, Trump dismissed questions regarding reports that China called claims of ongoing trade negotiations “fake news.” “Well, they had a meeting this morning,” he said. “So, I can’t tell you, doesn’t matter who ‘they’ is, we may reveal it later. But they had meetings this morning and we’ve been meeting with China.” When challenged on the contradictory accounts, Trump told the reporter, “You have your reporting wrong.”
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun had earlier labelled reports of trade talks with the US as “fake news,” underlining the apparent divergence in official narratives from the two countries.
The evolving dialogue comes amid heightened tensions over trade relations between the world’s two largest economies, with both sides enacting tariffs and navigating a complex negotiation process. The contrasting statements from the US and China highlight the sensitive and often opaque nature of diplomacy related to this issue.
Source: Noah Wire Services