By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping since taking office on January 20, but did not offer details on the topics of their conversation.
Trump made the comments in an interview aired on Fox News on Monday.
“Yeah … I have talked to him and I have talked to his people, too,” Trump said when asked if he has spoken to the Chinese leader since the U.S. president’s inauguration.
“We have a very good personal relationship,” Trump added.
The president did not provide details on when exactly the call happened or what was discussed.
Trump said last week he was in no hurry to speak to Xi to try to defuse a new trade war between the world’s two largest economies. A conversation between Xi and Trump is seen as crucial to a potential easing or delay of trade tariffs.
The White House and the Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s interview to Fox News.
Trump and Xi had spoken just before Trump took office in January and discussed issues including TikTok, trade and Taiwan.
China imposed targeted tariffs on U.S. imports last week and put several companies, including Alphabet’s Google, on notice for possible sanctions, in a measured response to Trump’s across-the-board 10% duties, which had come on top of prior tariffs.
Washington and Beijing have had tense relations for years over differences ranging from trade tariffs and cybersecurity to Taiwan, Hong Kong, human rights and the origins of COVID-19.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Chris Reese and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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