Trump signals readiness to travel to China for meeting with Xi Jinping

President Donald Trump announced a visit to China and a meeting with President Xi Jinping to continue negotiations on a new trade deal, reports Fox News.
On Monday, the White House leader stated that the US and China - the two largest economies in the world - will have great relations.
At the same time, Trump warned that if he wished, he could destroy China using the incredible trump cards at his disposal.
“We have much bigger and better cards than they do. They have some cards. We have incredible cards. But I don’t want to play those cards. If I did, that would destroy China,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.
It is not entirely clear whether Trump meant economic levers, political influence, or something else by trump cards.
In addition, the American leader noted that he had recently spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping and is considering a trip to China for negotiations.
According to him, he will likely visit Beijing either later this year or in early 2026.
US–China tariff war
Throughout this year, Trump has repeatedly raised tariffs on Chinese imports - in April, the maximum rate reached 145%.
Currently, the US tariff on most Chinese imports stands at 30%, while China has imposed a 10% duty on imports from the US.
Recently, Washington and Beijing agreed to extend the trade truce for another 90 days, giving negotiating teams more time to reach a deal.
In July, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent identified China’s support for sanctioned oil as a central sticking point during the latest round of trade talks, which took place in Sweden.
Washington has long complained that Iran and Russia use revenues from oil exports to finance terrorism and other destabilizing activities worldwide. Despite US sanctions, Beijing remains the largest importer of Iranian oil and the second-largest importer of Russian oil.
In addition to importing Russian and Iranian oil, Bessent also stated that the U.S. seeks to limit China’s role as the world’s factory. He previously urged China to scale back its massive export-oriented economic sector and increase its participation in global trade as an importing partner.
It should be noted that at the end of July, the Trump administration effectively suspended new restrictions on technology exports to China. The decision was made in order not to complicate trade negotiations with Beijing.