Chinese President Meets with Donald Trump

On Thursday, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, met for the first time with Xi Jinping, the President of China, in Florida. According to Reuters, this meeting took place before the official negotiations between the two leaders began, and their spouses were also present. Prior to this meeting, Trump stated that he would ask Xi to take action regarding the trade balance between the two countries and to cooperate more in curbing nuclear ambitions. Xi Jinping arrived in Florida at the head of a high-ranking Chinese delegation. The official dinner was held at 6:30 PM local time. Trump mentioned before the dinner that they had long negotiations without achieving anything, absolutely nothing, but they have become friends, which he can see, and he believes that in the long run, they will have very good relations. According to the report, the two leaders and their accompanying delegations are likely to start serious negotiations regarding trade and foreign policy on Friday. During his election campaign, Trump promised to stop the outflow of capital and jobs from the U.S. to China. He also criticized the trade balance between the two countries. On Thursday, Trump stated before meeting with the Chinese president that they have been treated unfairly and have had very bad trade deals with China for many years. This is one of the issues they will discuss. In this context, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated in Florida that despite the mutual desire for cooperation, the United States knows that China can pose challenges to American interests. Washington and Beijing have differences over issues such as economic relations, monetary policies, the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, and China's military presence in the South China Sea. In this context, Trump said that if China does not cooperate regarding North Korea, the U.S. will act unilaterally.