Trump and Xi talked. Is friendship growing?

💥 The first personal meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping after Trump’s return to the White House lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes — twice shorter than planned. However, both sides assured that the conversation was “constructive and honest.”

What the leaders discussed

The main topic was trade relations between the US and China, which in recent years have gone through several rounds of mutual accusations, tariffs, and sanctions.

• The leaders discussed a new trade deal and declared their intention to strengthen cooperation between the world’s two largest economies.
• Donald Trump stated that negotiators had reached a “significant consensus” and laid the foundation for renewed bilateral ties.
• He emphasized China’s role in ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and expressed readiness to discuss other international issues with Beijing, including the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.
  
• Xi Jinping, for his part, said that China and the US should be partners, not rivals, stressing that the relationship between the two countries is “naturally complex but vital.”
  
• According to Xi, China’s development “does not contradict the goal of making America great again,” which caused a lively reaction from journalists — it sounded almost like a mirror image.

Tone and outcome of the meeting

Although the meeting ended earlier than planned, both sides confirmed their intention to continue dialogue on key issues — from trade to security. American sources described the talks as “realistically positive,” while Chinese sources called them “mutually respectful and productive.”

However, markets reacted cautiously to the shortened duration of the meeting. Bitcoin briefly dropped to $108,000, as the lack of a joint statement left investors with a sense of ambiguity.

Details revealed later

A few hours later, insiders disclosed specifics of the agreements reached:

• The US reduced existing tariffs on Chinese goods by 10% — from 57% to 47%,
• and expressed readiness to discuss Nvidia chip supplies to the Chinese market under certain control conditions.
• China, in response, promised to increase purchases of American soybeans and to refrain from imposing restrictions on the export of rare earth metals essential for electronics and battery production (“No more obstacles in the field of rare earth metals”).
• China and the US will cooperate on the issue of Ukraine.
• The deal will be reviewed annually, depending on the political climate and market dynamics.

Political assessments

According to Donald Trump, the meeting “went twelve out of ten” — predictably in his style. He emphasized that relations with China “have never been so balanced.” However, according to Wall Street analysts, this was more of a diplomatic statement: markets reacted cautiously, and the Nasdaq index moved sideways after a brief rise.

In Beijing, the results of the meeting were described as “a step toward mutual respect,” but officials reminded that China “will not tolerate interference in its internal affairs and will defend its technological interests.”

⚡ Conclusion

The outcome of the meeting can be described as a classic political compromise: both declared victory, but there is no clear winner yet. The US is betting on trade warming and technological control, while China focuses on stability and gradual easing of pressure. And the world, as always, watches to see who blinks first.

A video fragment of the meeting can be viewed on our Telegram channel.