Trump said in his Truth Social post that the hour-and-a-half conversation phone call was “focused almost entirely on TRADE,” while the Chinese readout singled out Xi’s stern warning on Taiwan – the reddest of lines for Beijing – and the issue of Chinese student visas.

The way the Chinese work is that if our president talks to Xi Jinping, they will agree to general principles. Such as “Let’s try to resolve the tariff war. And let’s get Vice Premier He Lifeng to sit down again with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.”