President Trump, whose trade war with China has rattled financial markets and threatened to disrupt huge swaths of trade, suggested on Friday that he had been in touch with Xi Jinping, China’s president, even as Chinese officials insisted that no negotiations were occurring.
In an interview with Time on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said Mr. Xi had called him, though he declined to say when, and asserted that his team was in active talks with China on a trade deal. Asked about the interview outside the White House on Friday morning, the president reiterated that he had spoken with the Chinese president “numerous times,” but he refused to answer when pressed on whether any call had happened after he imposed tariffs this month.
Mr. Trump’s comments appeared aimed at creating the impression of progress with China to soothe jittery financial markets, which have fallen amid signs that the world’s largest economies are in a standoff. The S&P 500 is down 10 percent since Mr. Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
But the president’s claims of talks have been rejected by Chinese officials, who have repeatedly denied this week that they are actively negotiating with the United States.
“China and the U.S. have not held consultations or negotiations on the issue of tariffs,” Guo Jiakun, the spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said in a news conference on Friday. “The United States should not confuse the public.”
Chinese officials have repeatedly said the United States should stop threatening China and engage in dialogue on the basis of equality and respect. On Thursday, He Yadong, a spokesman for China’s Commerce Ministry, said there were “no economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States.”