Trump-Xi meeting as it happened: Trump shakes hands with ‘tough negotiator’ as Xi says China and MAGA go ‘hand in hand’

Thank you for joining our live coverage of US President Donald Trump’s high-stakes bilateral meeting with China’s Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in South Korea.

Trump has described the meeting, which lasted about one hour and 40 minutes, as a “12 out of 10”.

“I thought it was an amazing meeting,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he departed.

He says the US has agreed to cut tariffs on China from 57 per cent to 47 per cent in exchange for Beijing suspending its limits on exports of rare earth metals, restarting US soybean purchases, and cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade.

After finishing his meeting with Xi, Trump boarded Air Force One and is en route back to Washington, DC.

He has briefed White House reporters on board the flight about the “amazing” meeting’s outcomes, much of which had already been foreshadowed.

He says the US will lower its fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese goods from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, taking overall tariffs on Beijing from 57 per cent to 47 per cent.

In exchange, China has agreed to suspend for a year its limits on exports of rare earth metals and to resume purchases of “tremendous amounts” of US soybeans. They did not discuss Taiwan but agreed to “work together” on Ukraine.

Ahead of the meeting, which lasted almost two hours, Trump repeatedly talked up the prospect of reaching agreement on trade with Xi.

The talks in the southern port city of Busan, South Korea, their first face-to-face meeting since 2019, marked the end of Trump’s whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and South-East Asian nations.

But with the US and China increasingly willing to play hardball over areas of economic and geopolitical competition, many questions remain about how long any trade detente may last.

The trade war reignited this month after Beijing proposed dramatically expanding curbs on exports of rare-earth minerals vital for high-tech applications, a sector China dominates. Trump vowed to retaliate with additional 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese exports, and with other steps including potential curbs on US software exports to China – moves that could have upended the global economy.

Trump is in South Korea as part of his trip to Asia, which is focused on trade.

His first stop was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to attend ASEAN for the first time since 2017.

On the sidelines of the summit, which he attended for an afternoon, Trump signed some trade and tariff arrangements, including critical minerals pacts with Thailand and Malaysia.

As Trump meets face-to-face with Xi, here is a look back at some of the awkward moments the US president has had with other world leaders.

In February, French President Emmanuel Macron – in front of the cameras – reached for Trump’s arm and interrupted him as he spoke. Macron then sought to correct the US president on a point about funding Ukraine in its war with Russia, and made a point of stressing Moscow – not Kyiv – was the aggressor.

That same month, during a White House meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump appeared unaware of the major military pact between the US, Britain and Australia. Asked directly by a reporter about AUKUS, Trump replied: “What does that mean?”

In the same week came the extraordinary Oval Office clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, repeatedly accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” and insufficiently grateful for America’s support. Zelensky called out some of Trump’s false claims and became angered when Vance said it was time to deal diplomatically with Moscow. As the animosity intensified, the men spoke over each other often and raised their voices.