And for now, at least, Beijing views the trade-deficit-obsessed Trump as a more pragmatic and adaptable partner to work with than the China hawks that called the shots during Trump’s first term. China’s leaders now believe they can broker a trade deal with Trump to reduce tensions.

Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice evaluated President Trump's Friday meeting with Vladimir Putin during an appearance Friday evening on MSNBC. Rice said it was a diplomatic victory for Putin to get such a "warm welcome" from Trump on U.

Trump said Monday that he has cut a deal with chipmaker Nvidia, allowing it to sell certain artificial intelligence chips to China in exchange for a cut of the revenue, which would go to the U.S. government. Trump said he also negotiated a similar deal with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Favoring "deals over deterrence" will damage U.S. alliances and embolden Beijing, says Craig Singleton of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

For years, the US has restricted the sale of powerful AI chips to China. But Trump is letting sales of less-advanced chips happen.

The bilateral agreement to extend the temporary trade war truce this week came after a third round of negotiations framed by both sides as positive. Trump’s advisers regularly cite his “excellent” personal relationship with Xi and continue to weigh the possibility of a face-to-face meeting in China later this year.

U.S. President Donald Trump has targeted top economic rival China with a cascade of tariff orders on billions of dollars of imported goods aimed at narrowing a wide trade deficit, bringing back lost manufacturing and crippling the fentanyl trade.