Just weeks ago, after the U.S. military seized a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump said he suspected that the Chinese government was attempting to sneak a \u201cgift\u201d past America\u2019s blockade and into the hands of Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I had an understanding with President Xi,\u201d Mr. Trump said in an interview with CNBC, calling himself \u201csurprised.\u201d He added: \u201cBut that\u2019s all right. That\u2019s the way war goes, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
China has rejected Mr. Trump\u2019s accusation. But the incident underscores the uneasy nature of the relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi as the American president arrives in Beijing for a summit between two of the world\u2019s most powerful men.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump, who has long wanted to court relationships with the world\u2019s strongmen, has cultivated what he describes as a friendship with Mr. Xi, referring to China\u2019s leader as \u201ca brilliant leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a wonderful guy,\u201d Mr. Trump said this week before departing for Beijing. \u201cHe\u2019s a friend of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Xi, in turn, has flattered Mr. Trump with ceremony on a scale rarely afforded foreign leaders, turning a state visit<\/a> during his first term into a theatrical display of pomp and symbolism. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump was greeted by a military honor guard as well as men and women dressed in blue and white waving Chinese and American flags.<\/p>\n But beneath the public displays of warmth, the two men are at the center of the most consequential geopolitical rivalry of the 21st century. Their relationship is marked just as much by mistrust and confrontation as it is niceties.<\/p>\n For each public compliment, there is another maneuver in a trade war between the two countries. For each assertion of deep friendship, there is an uneasiness about the other\u2019s military ambitions. For each attempt at flattery, there is an accompanying suspicion.<\/p>\n \u201cXi Jinping is not somebody who\u2019s very sentimental about personal relationships, even inside his inner circle, never mind with what he sees as the leader of his main geopolitical foe,\u201d said Jonathan A. Czin, the chairman of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution. \u201cHe purged the most senior leader of the military this winter. If he\u2019s willing to get rid of a guy like that, that he\u2019s known for decades and has a deep relationship with, I think it\u2019s very instructive about how he approaches a guy like Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n The relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi has had its ups and downs since the American president\u2019s first term. There is rarely an interaction without some surprises.<\/p>\n The two men first met at Mr. Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort in 2017. Mr. Trump greeted Mr. Xi with a military honor guard and a lavish dinner.<\/p>\n While they were enjoying what Mr. Trump called \u201cthe most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d the American president informed Mr. Xi that the United States had launched missile strikes against Syria<\/a> in response to President Bashar al-Assad\u2019s chemical weapons attack in the Syrian civil war.<\/p>\n If the announcement was meant to catch the Chinese president off guard, Mr. Xi appeared unfazed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are so used to thinking of Trump as being very idiosyncratic, very different from his predecessors,\u201d Mr. Czin said. \u201cBut from a Chinese perspective, this looks very similar to President Obama\u2019s intervention in Libya and President Bush\u2019s intervention in Iraq. This is just the United States doing in a more intense way what it\u2019s done for most of the century.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Trump emerged from that meeting claiming they had developed \u201cgreat chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n Months later, Mr. Xi returned the favor with an extravagant state visit to Beijing unlike any reception afforded to Mr. Trump\u2019s recent predecessors.<\/p>\n During what Chinese officials called a \u201cstate visit-plus,\u201d Mr. Trump toured the Forbidden City<\/a> in a highly symbolic gesture emphasizing imperial grandeur and historic continuity. The two men strolled through ancient palace courtyards as television cameras followed closely behind.<\/p>\n Chinese officials arranged a private opera performance and seated Mr. Trump beside Mr. Xi in a setting meant to project intimacy and prestige.<\/p>\n During that trip, Mr. Trump said he gave China \u201cgreat credit\u201d for taking advantage of the United States on trade.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t blame China,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens?\u201d<\/p>\n Rush Doshi, a researcher at Georgetown University and at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it was important for both leaders to exit any negotiations in a manner that saved face for themselves and their countries. That is why Mr. Trump has often praised China\u2019s actions, even if they are hostile to America\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n \u201cHis general impulse is to say, in effect: \u2018I am a worldly pragmatist who understands that what they\u2019ve done isn\u2019t personal against me. It\u2019s just business,\u2019\u201d Mr. Doshi said. \u201cThat\u2019s the way in which he downplays these significantly escalatory acts.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Trump arrived in China on Wednesday, and he departs Friday. Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said that there would again be moments of great symbolism on the trip but that Mr. Trump would also return with economic deals beneficial to Americans.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will be a visit of tremendous symbolic significance,\u201d Ms. Kelly said. \u201cBut of course, President Trump never travels for symbolism alone. The American people can expect the president to deliver more good deals on behalf of our country. These agreements will further rebalance trade with China while putting American workers, farmers and families first and safeguarding U.S. economic strength in national security.\u201d<\/p>\n The relationship between the two men has grown more tense. Mr. Trump\u2019s trip was initially delayed because of his war against Iran, a major supplier of oil to China.<\/p>\n Since his first meeting with Mr. Trump, Mr. Xi has expressed more warmth for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, calling him \u201cmy best and bosom friend,\u201d and recently the Chinese president criticized Mr. Trump, though not by name, for flouting international law and returning \u201cto the law of the jungle.\u201d<\/p>\n And Mr. Trump\u2019s return to office brought an intensely confrontational economic agenda toward China, reviving tensions between the world\u2019s two largest economies.<\/p>\n Within months of taking office, Mr. Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on imports from a wide range of countries, with China receiving some of the harshest. Despite the aggressive talk, both governments eventually moved toward negotiations.<\/p>\n Tariffs are expected to be a major topic on the agenda this week.<\/p>\n Perhaps at no point were the personal tensions on greater display than last year when Mr. Xi signaled that he was shoring up his own alliances against American interests when he hosted the leaders of Russia and North Korea<\/a> for a military parade.<\/p>\n