On Wednesday, President Donald Trump called Chinese President Xi Jinping “very tough” and admitted the China has been “very hard to make a deal with.”
Trump made the statement on his Truth Social platform, clarifying that he still “likes” the Chinese leader. The statement comes as Trump is expected to hold a phone call with Xi sometime this week to discuss tariff negotiations.
“I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!” Trump wrote.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett revealed plans for Trump to speak with Xi on Sunday.
“President Trump, we expect, is going to have a wonderful conversation about the trade negotiations this week with President Xi. That’s our expectation,” Hassett said Sunday during an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.”
Trump’s plans for a call come after he leveled tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods following the president’s reciprocal tariff plans in April, when China retaliated against the U.S. with tariffs of their own.
China and the U.S. reached a preliminary trade agreement last month, which Trump said China violated in a Truth Social post on Friday.
“I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!” Trump wrote.
“The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!” he added.
