‘I like President XI of China…..always have…..but’: Trump calls dealmaking with China ‘extremely hard’ | World News

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is “extremely hard to make a deal with” in a comment that comes amid growing frictions between the two countries, weeks after they reached an agreement to de-escalate trade tensions.
“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 in a post on his platform Truth Social in the early hours of Wednesday morning local time.
Tensions have ratcheted up between the United States and China as the ongoing trade talks between the two sides appeared to stall just weeks into a 90-day tariff truce agreed to last month in Geneva.
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That truce hit pause on a damaging tit-for-tat escalation of tariffs sparked Washington’s raising of duties on Chinese imports into the US. Trump has since accused China of “violating” the agreement, a charge Beijing has denied, while it accuses the US of taking measures that “seriously undermine” their consensus.

Trump-Xi call
Trump’s latest remarks come as a long-awaited call between the US president and Xi has yet to materialise, despite repeated suggestions from the White House that such talks, which Washington sees as key to jump-starting progress, were imminent.
As per a report CNN, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Monday said the two leaders would likely speak “this week,” while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview with CBS’ Face the Nation that aired Sunday said he believed that issues between the two sides would be “ironed out” in a leader-level call “very soon.” China’s Foreign Minry on Tuesday said it had “no information to share” when asked about the potential call at a regular media briefing.
The president’s latest comments, expressing that he “likes” Xi, however, appear more conciliatory than a missive posted on social media Friday where he wrote that China “TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.” Then, Trump said that he made a “fast deal” with China to “save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation.” He added: “So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!”Story continues below this ad
Trump had in recent months repeatedly raised tariffs on Chinese goods, part of his broader efforts aimed at reshaping the US role in global trade and reversing the offshoring of American jobs and decline of US manufacturing. US tariffs on steel and aluminium doubled to 50 per cent as of 12:01 am ET on Wednesday, while the White House also negotiates with a host of countries on tariffs.