The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and the elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, had his first interview in four years on Friday.
According to Trump, he spoke with Xi about TikTok, just hours before the Supreme upheld a law set to ban the social media platform in the United States in less than 48 hours.
Trump said on his social platform of truth, “I hope we will solve a lot of upheavals together, starting right away. “
“We discussed the balance of trade, fentanyl, tiktok and many other issues. President Xi and I will do everything imaginable to make the global world no more violent and safer!”
The call between Trump and XI arrived here on Friday just before the Supreme Court unanimously governed Friday to defend a federal law that prohibits Tiktok unless his parent company based in China, Bytedonce, sells the application. Here on Sunday. The judges decided that the ties of the application with China represent significant national security risks, exceeding considerations on the loose discourse for Tiktok and its 170 million US users.
A Tiktok sale doesn’t seem imminent. While existing users will retain access to the app after the law goes into effect on January 19, new downloads will be banned and updates will no longer be available. The Justice Department noted in court papers that this would, in the end, render the app inoperable. .
The decision marks a significant escalation in U.S. efforts to address security concerns tied to foreign-owned technology platforms.
The call also comes as the Chinese government claims it “forced” it to expand nuclear weapons when a U. S. official issued a warning about China’s weapons of mass destruction program.
State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the verbal exchange between Trump and Xi took place “on the night of January 17,” and other main points of the discussion were not promptly provided.
During his first term, Trump took a difficult stance against China, launching a protracted industry war that imposed heavy price lists on Chinese imports and reshaped economic relations between the world’s two largest economies.
Trump has threatened to impose price lists of 60% to all Chinese imports to the United States. But in the future he has also praised his relationship with XI and warned that China could simply mediate in foreign crises such as war in Ukraine.
The phone call marks a notable moment of engagement between the two leaders.
Trump said in a December interview on Meet the Press that he had been communicating with Xi since he won the election. Trump in the interview said he has “a very good relationship” with China’s leader. He said they did had not discussed Taiwan but discussed other issues.
CCTV said in a statement: “We are ready to strengthen dialogue and communication with the new U.S. government, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations.”
“China has always viewed and developed China-U.S. relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.”
Beijing announced that same day that Xi would send Vice President Han Zheng to represent China at Trump’s inauguration on Monday, January 20.
This is a new one in progression and will be up to date with more information.
Update: 01/17/25, 11:03 a. m. m. : This article has been updated with more information.
Barney Henderson is Newsweek’s Content Editor, based in London, U.K. Barney joined Newsweek from The Times of London, and previously worked for The Daily Telegraph of London for 13 years, and The Hindustan Times in Mumbai, India. He is a graduate of both King’s College, London, with an MA in Terrorism, Security & Society, and Nottingham University, with a BA in History. You can get in touch with Barney by emailing b.henderson@newsweek.com.