China sought to depict a call between Xi Jinping and President Trump as an appeal from one strongman leader to another to run a tight ship and stay on course.

Trump said in his Truth Social post that the hour-and-a-half conversation phone call was “focused almost entirely on TRADE,” while the Chinese readout singled out Xi’s stern warning on Taiwan – the reddest of lines for Beijing – and the issue of Chinese student visas.

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call Thursday amid ongoing tensions between the two superpowers — with a new in-person meeting planned soon.