Trump: “I Like President Xi, But He’s Extremely Tough and Even Tougher to Make Deals With”

Trump: “I Like President Xi, But He’s Extremely Tough and Even Tougher to Make Deals With”

President Donald Trump has said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is "extremely tough" and "incredibly difficult" to make deals with. His comments come at a time when he has accused China of violating a recent agreement regarding the lifting of tariffs and trade restrictions.

On Wednesday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform:

"I like President Xi of China—always have, always will. But he is extremely tough, and making deals with him is incredibly tough!"

Trump’s remarks come amid rising tensions over a recent trade deal aimed at ending the tariff war between the United States and China.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Trump would soon speak with President Xi by phone in an attempt to resolve disagreements over last month’s tariff agreement.

In May, negotiators from the U.S. and China met in Geneva and reached a deal under which the United States would reduce tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China would lower tariffs on American goods from 125% to 10%.

Analysts had called the agreement unexpected, as the two sides had been far apart on key issues. Nevertheless, the deal was seen as a positive sign for the global economy.

However, on Monday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that the U.S. had “seriously violated” the agreement and that China would take necessary measures to protect its interests.

The alleged U.S. violations included:

• Halting sales of computer chip design software to Chinese companies,

• Blocking the use of chips made by Huawei,

• Canceling visas for Chinese students.

China’s commerce ministry also claimed these actions violated the terms of a prior phone agreement between Trump and Xi in January.

Trump had expressed his anger on social media last week as well, saying China had "completely" breached its agreement with the United States.

Although Trump did not specify which parts of the May deal had been violated, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later clarified that China had failed to remove non-tariff barriers against American products — a condition explicitly outlined in the agreement.

Last week, a U.S. trade court ruled that Trump had abused his authority under emergency powers when imposing most of the tariffs on products from China and other countries. However, within 24 hours, a federal appeals court reinstated those tariffs, stating that the government’s appeal was under consideration