Trump Holds Call With Xi Ahead of Inauguration

The president-elect said the two talked about a range of issues, including TikTok, trade, and fentanyl.

President-elect Donald Trump smiles during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix on Dec. 22, 2024. Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump said he held a productive call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping just days ahead of his inauguration.

“The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A.,” he said on his social media site Truth Social. He said that the conversation covered balancing trade, fentanyl, the Chinese media platform TikTok, and “many other subjects.”

“It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately,” he wrote.

The call was the first between the two since Trump’s November 2024 election win, following confirmation that Xi has sent his deputy, Han Zheng, to Trump’s Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony on his behalf.

Trump extended an invitation to Xi to the occasion in December 2024, a gesture his spokesperson described as “creating an open dialog with leaders of countries that are not just our allies, but our adversaries and our competitors, too.”

Trump appeared to hint at the move during a Dec. 12 speech at the New York Stock Exchange as he rang the market opening bell, saying that he was “even thinking about inviting certain people to the inauguration.”

“Some people said, ‘Wow, that’s a little risky, isn’t it?’ And I said: ‘Maybe it is. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens,’” he said at the time. “But we like to take little chances, but that’s not a bad chance.”

The Chinese foreign ministry said the Friday call took place in the evening time, with Xi congratulating Trump on the reelection and emphasizing readiness to “secure greater progress in China–U.S. relations from a new starting point.”

Xi particularly raised concerns about Taiwan, the democratic-ruled island that Beijing has sought to reclaim by any means necessary, and said he hoped Washington would handle it with care, according to the ministry.

It’s unclear how the U.S.–China trade relationship will play out, but Trump has threatened to levy an additional 10 percent on all Chinese goods coming into the United States unless Beijing takes concrete measures to stop the incoming flow of fentanyl. He also proposed as much as a 60 percent tariff on Chinese imports while campaigning for president.

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ruling on TikTok requiring the app’s Chinese owner ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets by Jan. 19 or face a ban in the United States.

According to a Chinese readout of the conversation, Trump said he hoped the two sides would “keep talking to each other” and that he “looked forward to meeting with President Xi soon.”

They also exchanged views on the crisis in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, and other “major international and regional issues of mutual interest,” it said.

Trump said that China needs the United States “very badly” during a radio talk show on Jan. 6.

China is now struggling with an economic slump, internal Party division, and rising public discontent. Investor worries over a looming U.S. tariff hike brought Chinese currency values to a new 16-month low on Jan. 10.

With concerns rising in Washington over national security risks from China, the hardline U.S. policy toward China is likely to continue. Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), called the communist regime “the most potent” U.S. adversary trying to displace the United States as the global leader, during a confirmation hearing on Wednesday.