Trump predicts deal on ‘everything’ in meeting with Xi

President Trump predicted he would make a deal on “everything” with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of their upcoming meeting in South Korea next week, pointing to potential agreements on agriculture and nuclear power. 

“We’ll make a deal on, I think, everything,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. 

“I think we’re going to make a deal on soy beans and the farmers. I think we’re going to make a deal on maybe even nuclear,” he continued. “You know, [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin in his call mentioned to me about nuclear, where we do a de-escalation and I’m fine with that.” 

“We have the most nuclear weapons. Russia is second. China is actually third by a long way, but we’ll be even within four or five years,” he said. ‘We are talking about de-escalation. It’s already being talked about, and I think we’ll probably add China into the mix.”

Trump and Xi’s planned meeting will mark the president’s first in-person meeting with the Chinese leader during his second administration. 

While Trump has spoken positively of Xi, under his second administration Trump has slapped China with tariffs over the movement of fentanyl into the United States and left other tariffs from Trump’s first term in place.

China recently announced new restrictions on exporting critical rare earth minerals, which led to new threats from Trump about additional tariffs. The administration has also signaled it wants to reduce U.S. reliance on rare earth materials from China.

Earlier this week, Trump signed an agreement with Australia on the minerals, which are used in the production of products like cars, semiconductors and electronics like laptops.

During his meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday, Trump said the U.S. commands “great respect” for Beijing and predicted the two nations will reach a “fantastic deal.”

“It’s going to be a great trade deal. It’s going to be fantastic for both countries, and it’s going to be fantastic for the entire world,” the president said.