Trump expects visit from Chinese President Xi, but no timeline given

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on Feb 19 that he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip.

Mr Trump made the remarks to reporters on Air Force One and said “it’s possible” for the US and China to have a new trade deal. A conversation or interaction between Mr Xi and Mr Trump is seen as crucial to a potential easing or delay of trade tariffs.

“We’ll have, ultimately, President Xi, we will have everybody coming (to the US),” Mr Trump said while also speaking about other leaders visiting the US.

Mr Xi last travelled to the US in November 2023, on his fifth visit to the country as Chinese president, for a summit with then US president Joe Biden, resulting in agreements to resume military-to-military communications and curb fentanyl production.

Mr Trump and Mr Xi had spoken just before Mr Trump took office

on Jan 20 and discussed issues including TikTok, trade and Taiwan.

Mr Trump told reporters on Feb 19 that he was talking to China about TikTok as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese parent firm ByteDance.

Mr Trump said last week he had spoken to Mr Xi since taking office as well but did not offer details on the topics of that conversation.

China’s Foreign Ministry did not directly comment on the US President’s remarks that day and instead referred reporters to their “scheduled” call before Mr Trump took office.

Washington and Beijing have had tense relations for years over differences ranging from trade tariffs and cyber security to TikTok, Taiwan, Hong Kong, human rights and the origins of Covid-19.

Mr Trump also told reporters he could make a deal with Russia over the war in Ukraine.

“We can make a deal with Russia to stop the killing,” he said, adding he thought the Russians wanted to see the war end.

“I think they have the cards a little bit because they’ve taken a lot of territory, so they have the cards.” REUTERS