Trump Says Jinping Is ‘Very Tough And Extremely Hard To Make A Deal With’

US President Donald Trump says Chinese leader Xi Jinping is “extremely hard to make a deal with” in a comment that comes as frictions rise between the two countries, weeks after they reached an agreement to de-escalate trade tensions.

“I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his platform Truth Social in the early hours of Wednesday morning Washington time.

Tensions have ratcheted up between the United States and China as expected trade talks between the two sides appeared to stall just weeks into a 90-day tariff truce agreed to last month in Geneva.

Trump’s latest remarks come as a long-awaited call between the US president and Xi has yet to materialize, despite repeated suggestions from the White House that such talks, which Washington sees as key to jump-starting progress, were imminent.

Trump had in recent months repeatedly raised tariffs on Chinese goods, part of his broader efforts aimed at reshaping the US role in global trade and reversing the offshoring of American jobs and decline of US manufacturing. US tariffs on steel and aluminum doubled to 50%, while the White House also negotiates with a host of countries on tariffs.

It also follows a meeting on Tuesday in Beijing between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and newly arrived US ambassador to China David Perdue, where Wang urged the US to work with China to “return relations to the right track.”