Trump Says China’s Xi ‘Extremely Hard’ to Strike Deal With

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Jun 5, 2025 - 09:55 Updated: Jun 5, 2025 - 00:53
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Trump Says China’s Xi ‘Extremely Hard’ to Strike Deal With

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social early on June 4 that Chinese leader Xi Jinping was “extremely hard to make a deal with,” after aides said Trump is expected to have a trade negotiations call with Xi this week.

“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.

The White House has yet to announce a date for the expected Trump–Xi trade talks.

After Trump announced reciprocal tariffs in early April, China was the only country to retaliate with counter tariffs and non-tariff measures, according to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. But trade officials from both countries met in Geneva and announced a 90-day agreement on May 12, during which the high tariffs and retaliatory measures were supposed to be rolled back as further trade negotiations took place.

On May 30, Trump and his aides revealed that China had “violated” the agreement by “slow-rolling” the critical mineral export restrictions it had agreed to roll back.
When asked what headway had been made between the nations, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on May 30 that talks had been “a bit stalled“ during the reprieve.
Bessent and other aides signaled that the talks would move forward once the heads of state came to the table. White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on June 1 told ABC News that they expect Trump to speak with Xi “this week.”

Hassett said that Greer’s team and his counterparts in China have been “talking every day trying to move the ball forward on this matter.”

Beijing initially denied violating the trade agreement on May 30. It escalated its remarks on June 2, when a spokesperson with the regime’s commerce ministry issued a statement through state media accusing the United States of violating the Geneva agreement.

Beijing pointed to several non-tariff actions the United States had taken since the May 12 talks, such as announcing it would revoke visas for Chinese students with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and issuing a warning that using Huawei’s artificial intelligence chips, which the United States believed were created in violation of U.S. export controls, may incur penalties.

Trump’s aides have said that Washington’s side of the agreement did not include any non-tariff measures.

Trade negotiations are continuing amid legal challenges to Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs. His aides say that if an appeal falls through, the president has other bases on which to impose tariffs.
On June 3, the White House said the United States has sent reminders to countries engaged in trade talks that they have a deadline to send their “best offer” by June 4 to “accelerate” talks.
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