Why Trump has struggled to get Xi on the phone to talk trade

For months, President Donald Trump has suggested his personal relationship with China’s Xi Jinping will be what unlocks the world’s most consequential trade dispute. Yet he hasn’t been able to get Xi on the phone — until, potentially, this week.

For months, President Donald Trump has suggested his personal relationship with China’s Xi Jinping will be what unlocks the world’s most consequential trade dispute. Yet he couldn’t get Xi on the telephone for weeks. The long period of silence between the leaders will — at least in the White House’s telling — come to an end this week. A string of US officials have all but confirmed a call between Trump and Xi is imminent and could occur as early as Thursday, even though Beijing remains tight-lipped. “I am afraid we don’t have comments for you right now,” a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington said in response to questions about the forthcoming conversation. The discrepancy in how each side was talking — or not talking — about the call ahead of time only underscored the widening gulf between the world’s two largest economies. Each side seems convinced the call could fall through at any moment. And it’s not only fights over tariffs, critical minerals, jet engine parts or computer chips that have caused a rift. It’s also a matter of the two leaders’ vastly different styles. While Trump is eager to apply his dealmaking tactics directly with Xi, his model of leader-to-leader haggling is entirely at odds with how Chinese officials approach global negotiations.