Trump Says 'Xi Called' Him, Signals Trade Deals in Coming Weeks

US President Donald Trump expects his officials will sign a swag of bilateral trade deals in coming weeks, according to a new report.

Trump’s strategy to impose ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on all of America’s trading partners has created shockwaves across Asia and the rest of the world, but the US leader appears to be sticking largely to his controversial strategy despite indicating this week that tariffs imposed on China could be significantly reduced.

In an interview on Tuesday (April 22) with Time magazine about the first 100 days of Trump’s second term in office, Trump insisted that Chinese President Xi Jinping had called him despite Beijing’s efforts to contest US characterization of the talks.

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The Republican president did not say when Xi called or what the two leaders discussed, but told Time: “He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf.”

Reuters said on Friday that China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s statement. But before Trump’s latest comments were published, it had urged Washington to stop “misleading the public” on bilateral tariff negotiations.

Trump added that he will be finished making US deals on tariffs in about three or four weeks. Asked if he would consider it a win if the US still had tariffs as high as 50% in a year, he replied: “Total victory.”

”There’s a number at which they [the Chinese] will feel comfortable,” Trump says. “But you can’t let them make a trillion dollars on us,” he said, in regard to China’s trade deficit with the US.

Time said the first 100 days of Trump’s second term “have been among the most destabilizing in American history,” with a blitz of power grabs, strategic shifts, and attacks that have stunned opponents, global counterparts and even supporters.

The president had launched a battery of orders that have hobbled government agencies and departments, while also threatening “to take Greenland by force, seize control of the Panama Canal, and annex Canada.”

Trump laid out plans to make various other deals with world leaders from Russia’s war in Ukraine to the Middle East, with Iran and Saudi Arabia.

However, other writers and news outlets have made even harsher assessments about his first three months in power.

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh says the US has endured “100 days of chaos,” while a commentator for Raw Story said, not for the first time, the 78-year-old president may have dementia.