The two leaders discussed Taiwan and Ukraine, Beijing said.
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone on Nov. 24, two months after their meeting in the South Korean city of Busan.
A White House official has confirmed that the call took place on the morning of Nov. 24, but offered no details of the conversation.
Trump subsequently wrote in a social media post that he discussed many topics with Xi, including the Russia–Ukraine conflict, fentanyl, soybeans, and other farm products.
“We have done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers — and it will only get better,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said he had accepted Xi’s invitation to visit Beijing in April 2026, while Xi will make a state visit to the United States “later in the year.”
“We agreed that it is important that we communicate often, which I look forward to doing.”
According to a readout published by China’s foreign ministry, Xi laid out Beijing’s position on Taiwan, saying that the “reunification of Taiwan” is a key part of the post-World War II international order.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has never ruled Taiwan, claims the self-governed democracy as its own territory, to be taken by force if necessary.
The foreign ministry quoted Xi as telling Trump that the two countries should work together to “safeguard the victory” of the war.
The two leaders also discussed the Ukraine crisis, according to the Chinese summary of the meeting. Xi hoped that a binding agreement could be reached among the various sides, according to the readout.
The Trump–Xi phone call came as the CCP dialed up economic and diplomatic pressure on Japan, following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent comments that an armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait could pose a threat to Japan.
Amid simmering tension between Tokyo and Beijing, Washington last week reaffirmed the U.S.–Japan alliance and the opposition to attempts to alter Taiwan’s status through force or coercion.
“The U.S.-Japan Alliance remains the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement on Nov. 20. “We firmly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo, including through force or coercion, in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea, or South China Sea.”
By Dorothy Li
