President-elect Donald Trump, who will soon return to being referred to simply as President Trump, has been engaging in various activities while the Biden family prepares to move into the White House. Among his tasks, he has been actively communicating with other world leaders, including a recent discussion with China’s Xi Jinping.
In their phone call on Friday, President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping addressed topics such as trade, fentanyl, and the popular app TikTok. This dialogue occurred shortly before Trump’s transition from president-elect to president, during which he has emphasized plans to implement tariffs and other strategies against China.
Despite the tension over trade policies, Xi Jinping extended congratulations to Trump for his second term and advocated for strengthening the relationship between the two nations, as reported by the Chinese foreign ministry. Coincidentally, the call took place on the day the U.S. Supreme Court supported legislation requiring the sale of TikTok unless it is separated from its parent company based in China.
Of course, the Chinese government will put a positive spin on this; Communist governments always appear downright ebullient when entering into negotiations when they think they may be at a disadvantage. And Trump seems to be making the point that, whatever China may think or want, he’s not playing around.
“We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for a good start of the China-U.S. relationship during the new U.S. presidency and are willing to secure greater progress in China-U.S. relations from a new starting point,” Xi said in the call.
Trump confirmed on his Truth Social platform that he had spoken with Xi, saying “the call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A.” They talked about trade, fentanyl and TikTok and more, he said.
What, precisely, was said is as yet unknown.
