Former President Donald Trump has once again taken aim at Chinese President Xi Jinping, describing him as "extremely hard to make a deal with" during remarks at a fundraising event yesterday.
The characterization comes as little surprise to those who've followed the tumultuous U.S.-China relationship during Trump's administration—and beyond. Having covered trade tensions between the two economic giants since 2018, I've seen this diplomatic dance play out repeatedly, with each side alternating between hardline rhetoric and cautious engagement.
Trump's comments reflect the complicated history between the two leaders. Their relationship has been... complicated, to say the least. Periods of lavish praise ("tremendous respect for President Xi") often gave way to sharp criticism when trade talks stalled.
Look, what makes this particularly interesting isn't just the statement itself, but the timing. With elections looming and economic concerns top of mind for voters, China once again emerges as the perfect foil in American political theater.
"Xi knows exactly what he's doing," Trump told donors, according to three people present at the closed-door gathering. "He's brilliant, tough as nails, and doesn't give an inch unless he gets something bigger in return."
The former president then went on a brief tangent about his golf game with Japanese officials before returning to his critique of Chinese negotiating tactics.
What does this mean for future U.S.-China relations? That's the million-dollar question (or trillion-dollar question, if we're talking about the actual economic stakes).
Trade experts I spoke with yesterday suggest these comments signal Trump's positioning for potential future negotiations should he return to office. By framing Xi as a difficult but respected adversary, he creates narrative space for either breakthrough deals or justified impasses.
Markets barely reacted to the news—a far cry from 2019, when a single tweet about tariffs could send stocks plummeting. Wall Street, it seems, has developed a thick skin when it comes to U.S.-China rhetoric.
One finance analyst (who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly) put it bluntly: "It's like that couple that's always threatening to break up but never does. Eventually, everyone stops paying attention to the drama."
The Biden administration has maintained many of Trump's tough policies on China, though with less colorful language. Tariffs remain largely in place. Export controls on sensitive technologies have actually expanded.
This continuity across administrations suggests something deeper than personality conflicts at work. The fundamental tensions—intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, market access, and now national security concerns—haven't gone away.
Trump's "extremely hard to make a deal with" comment might actually be the rare point of bipartisan agreement in Washington these days.
For American companies caught in the crossfire, the message seems clear: don't expect a return to the pre-2016 relationship anytime soon, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.
And that might be the most significant takeaway from Trump's latest characterization of Xi—not that deals with China are difficult, but that the era of easily-struck deals may be permanently behind us.
