BEIJING – During a Cabinet meeting in April 2025, weeks after President Donald Trump implemented his signature global tariff agenda that enacted unprecedented 145% levies against China, he called the geopolitical rival the “chief-ripper-off-er.”

That sort of language was nowhere to be found a year later during Trump’s two-day trip to Beijing. Instead, he consistently struck a conciliatory tone when describing his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, even when met with red lines.

“We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve, and the relationship is a very strong one,” Trump said during the last stop of his visit, at Zhongnanhai, the Chinese central leadership compound next to Beijing’s Forbidden City. “He’s a man I respect greatly.”

The president is on his way back to Washington. But in Beijing, Trump was on a mission to show that his interpersonal style of diplomacy, which at times elevates the relationship over the details, is a winning one.

During the greeting ceremony on Thursday in the Great Hall of the People, Trump repeatedly touched China’s leader on the back or shoulder, a move he reserves for those he likes. In the gardens of Zhongnanhai, Trump was overheard by reporters telling someone nearby that Xi was gifting him roses for the White House Rose Garden. When Xi announced the gift moments later, Trump said while smiling, “I love that, that’s great.”

It was a consequential trip for Trump, who flew to China under the auspicious shadow of the Iran war — that the U.S. has yet to find a way to wind down. The ups and downs of the kinetic operation and the back-and-forth on a potential political deal have dominated the headlines back home. High gas prices associated with Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz contributed to low approval poll numbers for Trump.

On the flight home, Trump told reporters that he and the Chinese leader “discussed almost everything you could discuss, except a reduction of tariffs.”

The president said the countries came to an agriculture deal in which China would buy billions of dollars’ worth of soybeans from American farmers and that China would purchase 200 planes from Boeing, along with 450 engines and a promise to purchase 750 in the future.

Despite the agreements and commercial deals that have been rolled out during the trip, with more likely to come in the days ahead, the relationship might be the most enduring deliverable.

“For this trip, symbolism is more consequential than the substance,” said one former foreign service officer with deep knowledge of Beijing.

Trump was met with a stoic Chinese leader who aims to project his own country as America’s equal for now, but whose leaders believe that the U.S. is entering its decline. At nearly every turn, Xi spoke of the promise of a stable U.S.-China relationship.

Asked if Trump believed Xi was a dictator, as his predecessor once said, Trump dismissed it: “I don’t think about it. He’s the President of China. … You deal with what you have.”

Experts who NOTUS spoke with in the aftermath of Trump’s first full day zeroed in on China’s official readout that said Xi and Trump agreed on “constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability,” a framework of diplomacy and agreement not to, for example, escalate tensions or put a chokehold on critical commodities like export controls for the U.S. or rare earth minerals for China. The Chinese wanted the truce extended for three years, according to the former foreign service officer, and in their statement, said Trump had agreed.

While the U.S. has yet to comment on the scope of the truce and whether it will be extended, it’s clear that American officials believe the idea of a stable relationship with China is also in their best interests — for now.

For instance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC in an interview that the two countries will establish a protocol to protect the safety of artificial intelligence, including who gets to use it, a clear sign that the U.S. seeks to manage its relationship with the growing superpower and avoid upsetting it.

The president said that the U.S. and China made “fantastic” trade deals during the two-day period.

But the Chinese have yet to confirm the Boeing deal, and the question for some observers is what the deal will cost the United States.

“I frankly would be more concerned if there were big announcements because what did we have to give up in return?” said the former senior foreign officer.

Even some in the administration, not among the small group led by Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, have questions.

“Those of us who are strong on China want to use that deal as leverage to exact concessions from China on things like rare earths,” said a senior administration official. On rare earths, the senior official said that China has “slow walked” commitments it’s already made.

“It’s well known that China actually needs these planes more than Boeing needs to sell them. They already have a big backlog from all the sales they’ve made since Trump came in,” the official said. “We’d love to see Boeing get [the deal], but only under the right circumstances.”

Two issues clearly held the most tension on the trip: Taiwan and the Iran war.

Trump said that Xi asked whether he would defend Taiwan from an attack, a clear sign that the authoritarian leader is gauging the U.S. commitment to its “One China” policy that recognizes Beijing as the only government of China but maintains relationships with the leadership in Taiwan.

“I said I don’t talk about that,” Trump said.

It was a major revelation — the U.S. readout made no mention of the Taiwan discussion. But it featured prominently in China’s. China’s foreign affairs spokesperson said in a post on X that Xi warned Trump that if the “Taiwan question” wasn’t handled properly, “the two countries will have clashes and even conflict.”

“The marker laid [by China] is pretty typical, although it seems they worked harder to make it a centerpiece message in the media,” a former senior trade official in the Trump administration who focused on Asia said via text message.

What’s more important, though, they wrote, is “what the response was and what, if any, changes might be made in the coming weeks/months to show some accommodation. That latter part remains unclear to those of us on the outside and perhaps to relevant officials here as well.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said immediately after Thursday’s meeting that the posture on Taiwan had not changed.

“On Taiwan, [Xi] feels very strongly, but I made no commitment either way,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, downplaying the risk of conflict over Taiwan.

On Iran, the White House said Xi expressed interest in buying more American oil, but it was unclear whether he agreed to do more to bring Iran to the table.

“We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar about [how] we want it to end. We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open,” Trump said before departing. “We want them to get it ended because it’s a crazy thing there, a little bit crazy. And it’s no good, it can’t happen.”

Asked by reporters if he asked Xi to get involved in Iran, Trump said, “I’m not asking for favors because if you ask for favors, you have to do favors in return.”

The details of the trip were important to the Chinese, as Xi made sure that Trump was met with meticulously planned statecraft. One Chinese official said that they prepared for a month for the greeting ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, NOTUS previously reported, which featured a military inspection and a marching 12-gun salute, as well as tightly choreographed children and a band.

And some in the Chinese government were frustrated that preparation didn’t appear to be as ironed out on the U.S. side, according to the former foreign service official. Chinese security, American press and some administration officials got into physical altercations, reporters traveling with the president said, but that type of confrontation was not seen at the top.

Multiple experts who spoke with NOTUS said that, at least image-wise, Xi got what he needed from Trump’s visit. Despite struggling with a host of domestic issues like an economic slowdown, including a slump in the housing market, the Chinese president wants his country to be seen as a superpower and him as a statesman. Beijing’s leaders have continuously said that they believe China is on the rise and the U.S. is in decline, including Xi.

Xi referred to the “Thucydides Trap” during Thursday morning remarks, referencing a geopolitical theory that warns about conflict between a rising power and an established one.

Trump, in one of the few Truth Social posts issued while on the ground, said, “President Xi was not referring to the incredible rise that the United States has displayed to the world during the 16 spectacular months of the Trump Administration,” instead saying that he was referring to the Biden administration.

“The United States is the hottest Nation anywhere in the world, and hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before!” Trump wrote.

And it’s that very idea that has some officials among U.S.-allied governments anxious and watching for “signs from Xi that he is not only an equal but maybe a dominant force on the global stage,” a European diplomatic source told NOTUS.

Allies said they didn’t feel prepared for the visit because the “U.S. officials barely consult us anymore, and when they do it’s usually State department staffers that are fishing for info because the Trumpites are not telling them anything,” they added.