Donald Trump says he got on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping recently to talk about tariffs — but no one seems to know when it happened, what was said, or if it happened at all.
The former president made the claim during a campaign stop this week. It wasn’t part of a formal announcement or press release. It just kind of came out mid-speech, in classic Trump fashion:
“I just got off the phone with President Xi,” he said. “We had a great conversation. Tariffs are coming back, bigger than ever.”
Since then, there’s been nothing from China. No statement, no official confirmation, no denial either — just silence. The Biden administration hasn’t weighed in, and no reporters have been able to verify that any call even took place.
This is familiar territory. Trump has a long history of throwing out big, attention-grabbing statements without much detail to back them up. Sometimes they turn out to be true. Other times, not so much.
Either way, the comment has already reignited talk about trade, especially with China. Tariffs were a huge part of Trump’s first term. He slapped hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of duties on Chinese imports, arguing that it was time to level the playing field. China hit back with tariffs of its own, and the whole thing turned into a drawn-out trade war that left U.S. farmers and manufacturers stuck in the middle.
Economists are still debating whether those tariffs helped or hurt. But politically, they were a defining part of Trump’s “America First” message, and clearly, he’s bringing that back for 2024.
The big question now is: was this just another campaign soundbite meant to stir the pot, or is something actually happening behind the scenes? If he really did talk to Xi, that’s major news. If not, it’s just another moment of Trump being Trump — throwing a match into the room and watching the reaction.
Until there’s more info, we’re left guessing.