‘Never seen men so scared in their lives’: Trump jokes about meeting with Xi Jinping’s team

WASHINGTOn,DC: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) joked about how the members of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s team were reserved and uptight during the bilateral meeting between Washington and Beijing in Malaysia.

Delivering the remarks while having breakfast with senators, Trump said, “Two months ago, it looked like the whole world was in trouble over rare earths, and that’s no longer a subject for people. It was all worked out very quickly. Without tariffs, I couldn’t have done it.”

Speaking about the Chinese President, he said, “President Xi is a tough man, smart man.”

During negotiations with his cabinet, Trump recalled how the Chinese side sat stiffly during the meeting and remarked, “I’ve never seen men so scared in their lives.”

The Trump-Xi meeting came amid heightened tensions between the world’s two largest economies, following months of trade disputes and export restrictions. Earlier this month, Beijing imposed curbs on critical exports, while Washington warned of possible bans on software-based exports to China.

The discussions took place just a day before the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju, scheduled from October 31 to November 1. The US had earlier said its goals included curbing the flow of fentanyl, ensuring TikTok’s divestment from ByteDance, and addressing issues related to tariffs and technology access.

Previously in a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “I had a truly great meeting with President Xi of China. There is enormous respect between our two countries, and that will only be enhanced with what just took place. We agreed on many things, with others, even of high importance, being very close to being resolved.”

Trump also announced that Washington and Beijing had reached a one-year trade pact that would reduce tariffs on Chinese imports from 57 per cent to 47 per cent.

“We have a deal,” Trump said. “Every year we’ll renegotiate the deal, but I think it will go on for a long time, long beyond the year.

“The 10 per cent tariff reduction, he said, came after China agreed to take “strong action” against the smuggling of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic drug that had caused a significant crisis in the United States.

“It was 57, now it’s 47. We reduced it by the fentanyl because I believe they are really taking strong action,” he said. “We’ve already seen the action on fentanyl, and they’re taking very strong steps.”

Trump said China also agreed to buy American energy, including oil and gas from Alaska, and to continue the flow of rare earth minerals, magnets, and other critical materials “openly and freely.”

He mentioned that a “large-scale energy deal” between US and Chinese companies might take place soon, with energy leaders from both countries expected to meet to finalise the agreement.

According to the White House, the issue of rare earth minerals, crucial for electronics and defence industries, has now been “settled.”

He also spoke about several contemporary issues. Trump railed against Democrats as part of his appeal.

“If I thought that they weren’t going to pass the filibuster, I wouldn’t even bring it up. They’re going to pass it within the first hour. It’s going to be a very, very bad situation, and it’s done as soon as they attain power. They’ll most likely never attain power, because we will have passed every single thing that you can imagine that is good and all good for the country, and there’ll be no reason, but if we don’t do that, people say they’re not doing much, and they’re in power.”

In his remarks, he also called for a voter ID law to be passed.

“We should pass all the things that we want to make our election secure and safe, because California is a disaster. Many of the states are disasters. All we want is voter ID. When you go to a grocery store, you have to give ID. You go to a gas station, you give ID. But for voting, they want no voter ID.” (ANI)