Chinese President Xi Jinping and U. S. President-elect Donald Trump held their first phone calls in four years on Friday.
According to Trump, he spoke with Xi about Tiktok, hours before the Supreme Court showed a law to ban the social media platform in the United States in less than 48 hours.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform: “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately.”
“We have discussed the advertising balance, Fentanyl, Tiktok and many other subjects. President Xi and I will make our own so that the global is no more violent and safer!”
The call between Trump and Xi on Friday occurred just before the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Friday to uphold a federal law banning TikTok unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells the app by Sunday. The justices determined that the app’s ties to China pose significant national security risks, outweighing concerns about free speech for TikTok and its 170 million U.S. users.
A tiktok sale does not seem imminent. While existing users will retain access to the app after the law goes into effect on January 19, new downloads will be prohibited and updates will be stopped from being available. The Justice Department noted in court documents that this will ultimately make the app inoperable.
The move marks a significant escalation in U. S. efforts to address security considerations similar to those of foreign generation platforms.
The call also occurs in the midst of claims of the Chinese government that “forced” to expand nuclear weapons, as did an American official who issued a warning about the Chinese’s mass destruction weapons program.
China’s state-run central television (CCTV) showed that the verbal exchange between Trump and XI took their position “on the evening of January 17,” the additional main points about the discussion were not without delay.
During his first term, Trump took a difficult position against China, launching an extended industry war that imposed steep costs on Chinese imports and reshaped the economy between the world’s two largest economies.
Trump has threatened to slap tariffs of 60 percent on all Chinese imports into the U.S. But he has also in the past praised his relationship with Xi and has suggested China could help mediate international crises such as the war in Ukraine.
The phone call marks a remarkable moment of commitment between the two leaders.
Trump said in a December interview with Meet the Press that he has been communicating with Xi since he won the election. Trump said in the interview that he has “a very smart relationship” with the Chinese leader. He said they were not talking about Taiwan yet to talk about other issues.
CCTV said in a statement: “We are in a position to discuss and communicate with the new U. S. administration, take good care of disputes, expand mutually favorable cooperation, and jointly announce the stable, healthy and sustainable progression of China-U. S. relations. “U. S.
“China has noted and developed China-US relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, non-violent coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation. “
Beijing announced previously on the day that XI would send to Vice President Han Zheng to establish the inauguration of China Trump on Monday, January 20.
This is a developing news story and will be updated with additional information.
Update: 01/17/25, 11:03 am: 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 [email protected].