White House gets defensive when asked if Xi and Trump have talked about the future of tariffs - Trump has claimed to have spoken with the Chinese leader in recent weeks. The Chinese government says it

Trump has held up tariffs as a negotiating tool with China and claimed talks are ongoing, but Beijing says so far there have not been any negotiations.

China’s President Xi Jinping has not called President Donald Trump, Beijing said Monday, despite Trump’s claims to the contrary. Trump said in an interview with Time magazine that Xi had already contacted him after Trump triggered a trade war between their countries—the two largest economies in the world—with punishing tariffs.