President Donald Trump claimed that China‘s President Xi Jinping called him amid the countries’ tariff war as Beijing disputed that talks are happening.
Trump sat down with Time magazine to mark the first 100 days of his second term – a milestone he will hit on Wednesday – and released the interview early Friday morning.
Time asked Trump whether he would call Xi, if the Chinese leader did not call him.
‘No,’ the president replied. ‘Nope,’ he said when pressed again.
Time then asked Trump if Xi had called him.
‘Yep,’ Trump revealed. ‘He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf.’
Trump would not bite when Time asked if it would have been a sign of weakness if the American president had called first, instead making a comparison he has made several time in recent days.
‘But I am this giant store,’ Trump 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.’
President Donald Trump insisted Friday morning that he had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, though wouldn’t comment on whether the conversations happened since the trade war with China escalated
Chinese President Xi Jinping is photographed on Wednesday. China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs continues to deny that the two countries are currently engaged in trade negotiations, while Trump claims Xi called him first
Time’s interview was released at 6 a.m. Friday.
At 6:15 a.m. China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs X account posted a message: ‘China and the U.S. are NOT having any consultation or negotiation on #tariffs. The U.S. should stop creating confusion.’
Trump was then asked about the discrepancy when he and first lady Melania Trump departed the White House to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome.
‘I spoke to him (Xi) numerous times,’ Trump said.
When pressed about whether the two leaders had spoken since Trump placed 145 percent tariffs on China, the president replied, ‘I don’t – I don’t want to comment on that.’
‘But I’ve spoken to him many times,’ Trump said.
When asked for specifics about when the call occurred and what was discussed, Trump did not say.
‘I’ll let you know at the appropriate time,’ Trump answered. ‘Let’s see if we can make a deal.’
President Donald Trump (left) holds court with reporters outside the White House mid-morning Friday, while first lady Melania Trump (right) looks on. The president and first lady are heading to Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis
On Thursday, Trump lashed out at a reporter when asked why China was calling it ‘fake news’ that the two countries were engaged in trade talks.
‘Well, they had a meeting this morning,’ Trump shrugged.
‘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,’ the president added.
He then told the journalist ‘you have your reporting wrong.’
It was China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun who made the comment, saying Thursday, ‘all of this is fake news.’
