U. S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he had made progress in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and expected…
PALM BEACH, Fla —
U. S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he had made progress in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and expected them to overcome many problems, a marked contrast to the stridently anti-China rhetoric of Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
As the two leaders wrapped up a Florida summit overshadowed by U. S. missile strikes in Syria overnight, Xi joined Trump in papering over, at least in public, deep differences over issues ranging from trade to North Korea.
Trump had said he intended to raise concerns about China’s trade practices and press Xi to do more to rein in North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs during their summit meeting at his Spanish-style Mar-a-Lago resort though no major deals on either issue were expected.
Trump promised during the campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and to rebuild the country’s manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 and Trump is under pressure to deliver for them.
The Republican president, who took office on Jan. 20, tweeted last week that the United States could no longer tolerate massive trade deficits and job losses and that his meeting with Xi “will be a very difficult one.”
On Friday, the unpredictable Trump not only set a different tone but also avoided any public lapses in protocol that Chinese officials had feared could embarrass their leader.
“We have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China,” Trump told reporters as the two delegations met around tables flanked by large U.
