‘Sorry, it’s the way I negotiate,’ Trump says of US-China talks

BIARRITZ, France — Brushing off concerns about global economic instability, President Donald Trump defended the way he is trying to squeeze a trade deal out of China on Monday, saying it’s a style that worked for him as a businessman.

Trump was challenged on a negotiating style in which he praises Chinese President Xi Jinping one day and castigates him the next. Allies are complaining that that’s contributing to instability problems for them and other nations, a reporter noted at a news conference closing out Trump’s participation in the Group of Seven summit.

“Sorry, it’s the way I negotiate,” he said.

The president said layers of U.S. tariffs have hurt China so badly that it will have no choice but to make a trade deal with the United States.

His trade war has been blamed for a global economic slowdown and has sown fears of an economic recession in the U.S. Some of the leaders meeting in the picturesque French seaside town of Biarritz urged Trump to bring the fight to a close.

French President Emmanuel Macron, the summit host who joined Trump at the top of his news conference, said the situation has created economic uncertainty and urged both sides to reach an agreement.

“What’s bad for the world economy is uncertainty,” Macron said, speaking in English. “The quicker an agreement is arrived at, the quicker that uncertainty will dissipate.”

‘Dealing on proper terms’

“I think we’re going to have a deal, because now we’re dealing on proper terms. They understand and we understand,” Trump said as he met with Egypt’s president on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France.

“This is the first time I’ve seen them where they really want to make a deal. And I think that’s a very positive step,” Trump added.

Trump declined to identify those involved in the most recent conversation or say whether he is in direct contact with President Xi Jinping. Trump added Monday that the two sides will begin ‘talking very seriously,” saying that after the calls he believes the Chinese “mean business.”

A Chinese delegation long had been expected to travel to Washington in September to continue talks and that remained the case after Trump’s escalation following China’s tariff announcement Friday.

Trump’s optimistic comments about China came as he commented for the first time on the surprise appearance at the G-7 summit by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and as the international gathering put Trump’s differences with his counterparts on display.

World leaders had encouraged Trump all weekend to deescalate the conflict with China, he clashed Macron over new France’s digital services tax, and he broke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in not forcefully condemning North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launches.

But Trump on Monday claimed the reports of disagreements were overblown, starting with the Zarif visit.

Quiet Sunday

Uncharacteristically silent Sunday while Zarif was in France, Trump insisted that Macron had asked his “approval” before asking Zarif to attend, as he looks to lower tensions in the Persian Gulf. And Trump rejected the assertion by some allies that the invitation to Zarif was somehow an insult.

“I spoke to President Macron yesterday and I knew everything he was doing and I approved whatever he was doing and I thought it was fine,” Trump said of the Zarif talks. He said he thought it was too soon for he and Zarif to meet but wouldn’t say whether any Americans had been in contact with the Iranian. The Iranian government had said they would not meet with any Americans during the eight-hour visit to France.

Trump said there could soon be time for a meeting between himself and Iranian officials, but refused to lay out clear steps forward or say if he’d be willing to accede to a plan put forward by Macron to offer Iran some relief from crushing petroleum sanctions in exchange for restarting nuclear talks. He said of the Iran talks, “It’s all very new. They’re under a lot of financial stress.”

After a breakdown in talks this spring, Trump and Xi agreed in June to resume negotiations. But talks in Shanghai in July ended with no indication of progress. Negotiators talked by phone this month and are due to meet again in Washington next month.