U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that China's President Xi Jinping was "extremely hard" to make a deal with. A senior White House official told CNBC earlier on Monday that Trump and Xi are likely to speak this week.

Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping is tough and "extremely hard to make a deal with," days after the U.S. President accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions.

China has rejected President Donald Trump’s accusation that it violated a trade agreement recently announced in Geneva, Switzerland. On Monday, Chinese officials responded to comments Trump made over the weekend that accused Beijing of failing to meet the terms established in a deal reached last month.

Gold prices climbed on Wednesday as uncertainty over U.S.-China trade relations and global economic concerns boosted safe-haven demand. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $3,361.03 an ounce, as of 0358 GMT. U.S.

Gold prices are rising due to mutual accusations between the US and China of violating the trade agreement, as well as tensions in Ukraine. Investors are seeking safe assets, which is driving up the value of the precious metal.

Monday fell by -0.58% and posted a 1-1/4 month low. Escalation of US-China trade tensions has led to a selloff of the US dollar after China accused the US of violating their recent trade deal by unilaterally introducing new discriminatory restrictions.

At the center of the latest trade storm between the U.S. and China is He Lifeng. Since He became vice premier in early 2023, China's leader Xi Jinping has essentially put him in charge of fortifying the nation’s economy against the effects of U.

China said Monday that the Trump administration is undermining the temporary May 12 trade agreement between the two nations by issuing AI chip export control guidelines, stopping the sale of chip design software to China and by planning to revoke Chinese student visas.

China has accused the United States of “provoking new economic and trade frictions” as it responded to US President Donald Trump’s claims that Beijing had violated a trade truce agreed by the two nations last month,

U.S.-China trade talks are up in the air today amid mixed signals from both sides. A call between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is still possible — which would be their first since he took office again.