Trump and Xi hold phone call focused ‘entirely on trade'; US first couple invited to visit China
US President Donald Trump on Thursday held a lengthy and 'very good' phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, according to a Truth Social post by Trump. The call comes amid renewed trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
The 90-minute conversation was initiated by Trump, as confirmed by China's state-run news agency Xinhua. While the agency did not elaborate on the specifics of the discussion, Trump offered a detailed account on Truth Social shortly after the call concluded.
'I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal,' Trump wrote. 'The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries.'
Trump said the conversation focused 'almost entirely on TRADE' and clarified that issues such as Russia/Ukraine or Iran were not discussed. A key outcome of the call was an apparent resolution of questions surrounding the complexity of rare earth products, a topic that has become central to escalating trade disputes in recent weeks.
'There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products,' Trump added.
The US and China had earlier struck a 90-day agreement on May 12 to roll back certain tariffs imposed during the ongoing trade war that reignited after Trump's January return to the White House. However, tension over critical minerals—including rare earth elements essential to high-tech manufacturing—has persisted, threatening to upend the fragile truce.
Trump also announced that teams from both countries would meet soon, at a yet-to-be-determined location, to work out further trade arrangements. Representing the US will be Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
'President Xi graciously invited the First Lady and me to visit China, and I reciprocated,' Trump noted, calling it a gesture he looks forward to fulfilling.
The White House has not yet released an official statement regarding the phone call, but Trump's post suggests a renewed momentum in US-China negotiations, particularly on trade and rare earths.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
18 minutes ago
- Time of India
China Sides With Iran, Greenlights Hormuz BLOCKADE? Beijing's First Response As U.S. Seeks Help
/ Jun 23, 2025, 06:00PM IST United States' airstrike on the Iranian nuclear sites has triggered a massive global oil crisis scare. Tehran's parliament has decided to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil chokepoint. The strait accounts for 1/5th of the movement of oil containers across the world. According to reports, United States had urged China not to led the Ayatollah Khamenei-led regime to shut the strait. Will China heed to Trump's request after a bitter trade tariff war between the two superpowers?
Time of India
20 minutes ago
- Time of India
Did the US really wipe out Iran's nuclear sites? Reports say Trump may have been tricked by Tehran
Despite President Trump's declaration of a complete victory, the US airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities have yielded mixed results. While some sites sustained damage, particularly at Fordow, doubts remain about the extent of destruction to underground facilities. Concerns linger regarding Iran's potential relocation of enriched uranium, potentially hindering but not halting their nuclear ambitions. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Did the US really wipe out Iran's nuclear sites? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads What do satellite images reveal about the damage? What do experts think about the attack? Has Iran secretly moved its highly enriched Uranium? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads How does this impact Iran's nuclear ambitions? FAQs US President Donald Trump announced with confidence that US airstrikes had destroyed Iran's main nuclear sites and called it a complete victory. However, expert opinions and satellite images present a different Saturday night, Donald Trump dispatched seven B-2 stealth bombers from the United States to destroy Tehran's nuclear program by dropping massive bunker-busting bombs on three enrichment facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and underground facilities may have survived, and enriched uranium may have been moved without anyone knowing. The attack may have slowed down Iran's nuclear plans, but it did not stop them, as per reports by CNN and of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine said Sunday that a US submarine used Tomahawk cruise missiles to strike an Isfahan location where a US official estimates that approximately 60% of Iran's stockpile of already-enriched nuclear material is kept Isfahan facility was not hit by massive "bunker-buster" bombs dropped by B-2 bombers, in contrast to the other two Iranian facilities targeted in the operation, as per a report by the US used 12 bunker busters to destroy Iran's facility at Fordow, another underground location that contained centrifuges needed to enrich uranium, the facility's evident survival has prompted doubts about whether Trump's declared objective was even to commercial satellite imagery, the U.S. attack on Iran's Fordow nuclear plant seriously damaged, if not completely destroyed, the deeply buried site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it contained, but experts said on Sunday that there was no proof of it. However, it is unknown how much damage has been done because the facility has layers of Technologies' satellite imagery from Thursday and Friday revealed "unusual activity" at Fordow, including a lengthy line of cars waiting outside one of the facility's Lewis, a weapons expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, has closely examined commercial satellite images of the strike sites and said the damage to the facility seems limited to aboveground structures.'They just punched through with these MOPs,' said David Albright, the head of the Institute for Science and International Security and a former U.N. nuclear inspector, in reference to the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-busting bombs that the United States claimed it Eveleth, a satellite images specialist and associate researcher with the CNA Corporation, pointed out that it was impossible to confirm the destruction below ground. The hall that houses hundreds of centrifuges is "too deeply buried for us to evaluate the level of damage based on satellite imagery," he stated to Iran, prior to US attacks on its nuclear bases, the majority of its highly enriched uranium was smuggled to a hidden location. Iran claimed that it had moved its 400 kg stockpile, much of which was kept at Isfahan, and satellite photos showed convoys departing all three locations in recent days, as per a report by think that the majority of Fordow's 400 kg of 60%-enriched uranium was transferred prior to Operation Midnight Hammer, as per a report by The of 16 trucks snaking down a road near the entrance of the Fordow plant, obscured by rubble and dirt, was released by US defense contractor Maxar Technologies on June defense company TS2 Space reports that trucks, bulldozers, and security convoys swarm Fordow, where analysts observed a "frantic effort" to move shielding materials or intelligence analyst Ronen Solomon stated that transferring Iran's uranium would be "like having fuel without a car" and that they are unable to do much with it unless they develop a small-scale project that we are unaware of, as per The also warned that Iran might be concealing this and other nuclear components in places that Israel, the United States, and the U.N. nuclear inspectors are unaware would take years and rely on Tehran's capacity to restore essential equipment before Iran could produce a nuclear weapon, even though it might have the entirely; experts believe some deep underground facilities and uranium stockpiles were has the potential to rebuild, as key equipment and uranium may have been secretly relocated.
Mint
23 minutes ago
- Mint
Italian energy major Eni sells 20% stake in renewable arm Plenitude to Ares for $2.3 billion: Details here
Italian energy group Eni SpA has sold a 20 per cent holding in its renewable business Plenitude to Ares, a US-based alternative credit management firm The deal is set at about $2.3 billion, marking the holding company's second sale of a stake in the unit, reported Bloomberg. The transaction is based on the value of Plenitude's equity shares, which is around $11.4 billion. The enterprise value stood at more than $13.7 billion, the renewable business said in a statement. Eni said in May it was in exclusive talks with the company over the sale, the news agency said. 'The valuation of Plenitude has positive implications for the stock as it allows further value to be unlocked in one of Eni's satellites,' reported Bloomberg citing Massimo Bonisoli, an analyst at Equita Group SpA. The company completed the sale of 10 per cent of Plenitude to Energy Infrastructure Partners earlier this year. Eni shares remained stable as of 10:33 am local time, while the Milan stock index fell by 0.6 per cent. Eni stock initially gained as much as 0.9 per cent. The energy major has said it also plans to sell stakes in its businesses in biofuels and mobility arm Enilive, where US-based KKR & Co bought a 25 per cent holding earlier this year. It is in exclusive talks for a stake in its carbon capture and storage unit, the news agency said. Milan-based Plenitude was set up to hold Eni's energy retailing and renewables businesses. Initial plans for a public listing of Plenitude have been put on hold. Ares, an alternative asset manager overseeing nearly $550 billion, has recently opened an office in Milan, Italy's financial hub, in order to expand its business in that market.
