President Trump disclosed Wednesday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged letters over China's alleged weapons transfers to Iran, with Xi denying the claim in writing. According to reports from Bloomberg, Trump initiated the exchange after US intelligence reports surfaced suggesting Beijing may have sent a shipment of missiles to Tehran. "I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that, and he wrote me a letter saying, essentially, he's not doing that," Trump said during the interview. In a follow-up post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that China had "agreed not to send weapons to Iran" and said he and Xi were "working together smartly, and very well." Trump has threatened 50% tariffs on goods from countries arming Tehran, which could upend the US-China trade relationship if he follows through. Beijing does not directly ship arms to Iran but does provide it with dual-use technology.
Trump dismissed concerns that the ongoing Iran war and its impact on global oil supplies would derail his planned visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. In an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that aired Wednesday, Trump said he did not think the war would "change the dynamic" of his coming visit to China. Asked whether the impact on oil prices from recent US actions in Iran and Venezuela would affect his Beijing visit, he said: "[Xi is] somebody that needs oil. We don't." Trump's original plan to visit Xi in China from late March was postponed until mid-May because of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, although Beijing has never confirmed the dates. "President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks," Trump said in a social media post minutes after the interview was aired.
The letter exchange carries diplomatic weight even without formal verification, as reported by Bloomberg. Trump last week threatened a 50% tariff on any country supplying Iran with weapons, a warning aimed squarely at China. Xi's written denial, whether or not it reflects Beijing's actual behavior, gives Trump a face-saving path to de-escalate one front of the conflict without confrontation. According to the report, China is the largest customer for Iranian oil and a major trading partner, making the Iran war particularly economically threatening. Fresh data on Tuesday showed China's export growth slowing sharply in March, adding to economic pressures from the conflict. Trump told reporters earlier this week that Xi had not directly engaged him about the Iran conflict, saying he believed the Chinese president "would like to see this ended also."
Trump announced Wednesday that the United States is deploying thousands of additional troops to the Middle East as it seeks to pressure Iran into a deal, according to the Washington Post. The deployment will include sailors and Marines and comes as President Trump's administration works to enforce a maritime blockade against Iran. "They would have had a nuclear weapon… and they would have used it," Trump said, emphasizing that "They cannot have a nuclear weapon." He described Iran's current leadership as "a new regime" and "pretty reasonable by comparison," while saying the final outcome of the conflict remains uncertain. Trump said he had not received pushback from other countries over US actions in the region, including moves affecting the Strait of Hormuz, and added that Iran must be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The US maritime blockade is facing significant challenges as ships linked to Iran increasingly use "spoofing" and other deceptive tracking tactics in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to the New York Times. The activity includes vessels going "dark" by switching off transponders or transmitting false identification data to avoid detection. Two vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz and are heading toward Iranian ports despite the US blockade, as reported by Guards-affiliated Fars news. The shift suggests operators are becoming more cautious and testing enforcement limits as the blockade disrupts normal shipping patterns. Such tactics, previously used by Russia-linked vessels to evade sanctions, could make it harder to track ship movements and add to uncertainty in the waterway.
