Trump gushes that President Xi runs China with an ‘iron fist’ days before visit

President Donald Trump showered the Chinese president with praise ahead of a historic meeting between the two world leaders.

“I find him to be an amazing man, and when I say that, the press always says, ‘Oh, that’s terrible that he called him that.’ He runs 1.4 billion people with a pretty iron fist,” Trump said. “He loves his country, I can tell you that. He’ll bring up Taiwan more than I will.”

Trump has previously described President Xi Jinping as a “great guy” and boasted that they have a “very good” personal relationship. However, tensions between the U.S. and China have been high since Trump took office for a second time for a myriad of reasons.

Later this week, Trump will make his first trip to China of his second term. The visit also marks the first time a U.S. president has visited China in almost a decade. Trump was the last leader to do so in 2017.

The two world leaders will meet for a bilateral summit in Beijing. Despite Trump’s glowing comments about Xi Jinping, tensions are expected to be heightened, considering the tariff war Trump waged against China early last year.

The tit-for-tat tariff war was paused after Trump and Xi’s last meeting in South Korea in October. However, threats have continued from both sides.

A permanent resolution has remained up in the air for months, and the leaders are expected to continue to bargain this week. The BBC predicted that the Trump administration may try to push China to make more purchases of goods from vital U.S. industries, including soybeans and aircraft parts.

Reports claim that Trump has invited executives from some of the biggest U.S. companies to join him on his trip to China — including his former ally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink, and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg.

Last week, the US imposed sanctions on several China-based companies, alleging that they provided “satellite imagery to enable Iran’s military strikes against US forces in the Middle East” and enabled “efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons, as well as raw materials with applications in Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs,” the Guardian reported.

On Monday, China spoke out against these sanctions, describing them as illegal and unilateral, Reuters reported.

“We have always required Chinese enterprises to conduct business in accordance with laws and regulations, and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing.