Trump sends mixed signals on prospects of China deal and Xi meeting

Washington DC - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he expects to seal a "good" trade deal with Beijing next week, but warned that he may yet cancel his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

President Donald Trump said he expects to seal a "good" trade deal with Beijing, but warned he may yet cancel his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
President Donald Trump said he expects to seal a "good" trade deal with Beijing, but warned he may yet cancel his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.  © AFP/Fred Dufour

Trump has repeatedly changed his mind on meeting the Chinese president at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea, first confirming the encounter earlier in October.

"So now we're going to have a fair deal, and I think we're going to have a very successful meeting. Certainly, there are a lot of people that are waiting for it," Trump told a lunch event with Republican senators.

He then caveated his claim, adding: "Maybe it won't happen. Things can happen where, for instance, maybe somebody will say, 'I don't want to meet. It's too nasty.' But it's really not nasty."

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Following a call with Xi on September 19, Trump suggested that South Korea would be the location of his first meeting with Xi since his return to the White House. It will likely be followed by a trip to China in early 2026.

On October 10, however, plans were thrown into the air when he threatened to scrap the meeting and issued sweeping new tariffs on China.

Trump has seemed to soften his stance since then, saying on Monday that they would meet and that his trip to China "fairly early next year" was "sort of set."

Xi is not the only leader that Trump has wobbled on recently. On Thursday, he said that he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin within two weeks, but on Tuesday the White House said that there were no such plans.

Cover photo: AFP/Fred Dufour

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