Xi Jinping Denies Trump’s Claim of Phone Call—Geopolitical Tensions Rise as Leaders Clash

Chinese President Xi Jinping publicly refutes former US President Donald Trump’s assertion of a direct phone conversation between the two leaders—a claim now labeled as false by Beijing.

The denial fuels existing geopolitical friction, with analysts speculating on the implications for US-China relations. Meanwhile, Wall Street barely flinches—because when has truth ever moved markets?

Beijing shuts down Trump’s lies

Despite China throwing a concrete wall at the idea, Trump kept his own story alive. Last week, he tried to soften the mess he created with his eccentrically high tariffs, promising that these levies would “come down substantially” and claiming he would be “very nice” at the negotiation table if Xi wanted to jump in.

“He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said during his Time interview, trying to make it sound casual. But he didn’t say what they supposedly talked about, when the call even happened, or why it was not mentioned officially.

Later on Friday, CNN’s Alayna Treene pushed Trump to explain himself as he left the South Lawn of the White House. Instead of answering, Trump ducked the question, saying, “I don’t want to comment on that, but I’ve spoken to him many times.”

There were no details given, no confirmation, just vague answers – classic Trump. Publicly available records show the last real phone call between Trump and Xi was on January 17, days before Trump took the oath for his second term. That was months ago.

Even after Trump kept tossing around claims that negotiations were happening, China kept smacking them down. Hours before the Time interview hit the news, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued another statement warning the United States not to “mislead the public” about what was happening with trade talks.

Since getting back into the White House, Trump has ordered a 145% levy on goods coming in from China, but he made exceptions for electronics like smartphones and computers. He called them “reciprocal” even though that word didn’t make sense when you know all the context.

But China answered by raising its own tariffs on American imports to 125%. At the same time, they made some quiet moves behind the scenes, cutting tariffs on certain US-made semiconductors. Import agencies picked up the change, saying it looked like China was trying to give a little breathing room to its tech industry while keeping pressure on the United States.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday and already made it pretty obvious he had no clue about any phone calls between Trump and Xi.

When Martha Raddatz asked him directly whether Trump had spoken with Xi, Scott said, “I don’t know if President Trump has spoken with President Xi.”

Instead of confirming anything, the former Wall Street star tried to cool things down by saying that the US government was talking with “various nations” about trade and admitted that the high tariffs could not last forever.

Even when pressed harder, Scott could only say that Trump and Xi had a “very good relationship and a lot of respect for each other.”

So while Trump keeps painting a picture of secret deals and cozy phone calls, Beijing and even his own guy are telling a very different story: no calls, no talks, and no quick end to the brutal tariff fight.

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