Ahead of a scheduled call to discuss tariffs and trade, President Donald Trump said he likes China's Xi Jinping but finds the Chinese leader very tough and difficult to make a deal with.

In May, the United States and China reached a preliminary trade deal—as Trump lowered his 145 percent tariffs to 30 percent, while Beijing slashed levies on U.S. imports to 10 percent. That came with a 90-day deadline to reach a broader trade deal, but it looks like there’s been little progress since then.