Trump said he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday that he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping that morning, just three days before his inauguration.

“I just spoke to Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping. The call was very good for both China and the US. “I expect we will solve many problems together, immediately,” Trump wrote. “We talked about the balance between trafficking, fentanyl, TikTok and many other issues. President Xi and I will do everything we can to make the world more peaceful and secure!”

Early Friday morning, Chinese state media Xinhua also confirmed that Xi and Trump had spoken by phone.

An official statement from China’s Foreign Ministry said that “During the call, President Xi emphasized” that both countries “pursue their respective dreams” and should continue to remain “partners and friends” given their past cooperation.

“President Xi pointed out that it is normal for two large countries with different national conditions to have differences of opinion. What is important is to respect each other’s core interests and main concerns and find an appropriate solution,” the statement continued.

This month, the Chinese embassy in Washington confirmed that the country’s vice president, Han Zheng, would travel to Washington to attend Trump’s inauguration as a “special envoy of President Xi Jinping.” It will be the first time a senior Chinese leader attends the inauguration of a US president.

Friday’s phone call with Xi comes as Trump has repeatedly threatened in recent weeks to impose tariffs on China after he takes office, accusing the Asian country of helping to worsen the fentanyl crisis.

In a Truth Social post in late November, Trump wrote: “I have had many conversations with China about the massive amounts of drugs, particularly fentanyl, being sent to the United States – but to no avail.” Until they stop, we will become China impose an additional tariff of 10% on top of any additional tariffs on all of its many products entering the United States of America.”

In recent weeks, TikTok has also come into focus as a big issue for Trump, as the Chinese-developed app is set to be banned in the United States on Sunday, a day before the president-elect is sworn in for his second term.

A 2024 bipartisan bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden aimed to force TikTok to sell the app to a U.S.-based company or face a ban.

The law was prompted by concerns that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, was under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, raising privacy and national security concerns.

Trump has tried to intervene, asking the Supreme Court to put the law on hold so the new Trump administration can consider how it could potentially save TikTok. But on Friday morning, the Supreme Court said it intended to allow the ban to take effect.

Two Biden administration officials said earlier this week that they would not seek to legally enforce penalties against TikTok in the administration’s final hours if the app continued to operate after Sunday. Trump takes office on Monday afternoon.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew is one of the many tech leaders planning to attend Trump’s inauguration.