Trump says had call with China's Xi on tariffs: US media

U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration is talking with China to strike a tariff deal and that Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him, according to a TIME magazine interview published on Friday, as Beijing has so far disputed the U.S. characterization of talks.

The Republican president did not say when Xi called or what the two leaders discussed, telling TIME: "He's called. And I don't think that's a sign of weakness on his behalf."

China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's statement. Before Trump's latest comments were published, it had urged Washington to stop "misleading the public" on bilateral tariffnegotiations.

Trump added that he will be finished making U.S. deals on tariffs in about three or four weeks. Asked if he would consider it a win if the U.S. still had tariffs as high as 50% in a year, he told TIME: "Total victory."

Trump also laid out his plans to make various other deals with world leaders from Russia's war in Ukraine to the Middle East with Iran and Saudi Arabia.

In Russia's war with Ukraine, Trump said: "Crimea will stay with Russia. And (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy understands that, and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time. It's been with them long before Trump came along."

Trump open to meeting Iran's leaders

Trump has said he is open to meeting Iran's supreme leader or president as the two countries began talks on Iran's nuclear program.

Following a meeting last week to outline a framework for a potential nuclear deal, which a U.S. official described as yielding "very good progress", Trump said in an April 22 interview published on Friday: "I think we're going to make a deal with Iran."

Asked whether he was open to meeting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei or President Masoud Pezeshkian, Trump replied: "Sure."

Trump, who in 2018 pulled the U.S. out of a 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers, has warned of military action against Iran unless a new deal is swiftly reached to prevent it developing nuclear weapons.

When asked if the U.S. would join a war against Iran should Israel take action, he responded: "I may go in very willingly if we can't get a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'll be leading the pack."

Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal's limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.