US President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Gimhae Air Base on October 30, 2025 in Busan, South Korea. (Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday recounted a recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, joking about how Xi’s delegation behaved during the talks in Malaysia.Speaking at a breakfast meeting with senators, Trump said rare earths — once considered a major issue — were resolved quickly. “Two months ago, it looked like the whole world was in trouble over rare earths, and that’s no longer a subject for people. It was all worked out very quickly. Without tariffs, I couldn’t have done it,” he said.Referring to Xi, Trump said, “President Xi is a tough man, smart man.”Trump described the atmosphere during their meeting and said the Chinese officials accompanying Xi remained silent and rigid. “I’ve never seen men so scared in their lives,” he said.He said there were six officials on each side of Xi, standing upright. “And every one of those people were standing like this,” Trump said, demonstrating by placing his arms behind his back and lifting his chin. “They were at attention.”Trump said that when he tried speaking to one of them, he got no reply. “I said, ‘Are you gonna answer me?’ I got no response. And President Xi didn’t let him have any,” Trump said, adding, “I want my Cabinet to behave like that.”“I’ve never seen men so scared in my life,” he said, as the room laughed.Trump then joked with vice president JD Vance, saying, “Why don’t you behave like that? JD doesn’t behave like that. JD budges into conversations. I want to have that for at least a couple of days, OK, JD?” which again drew laughter.The meeting between Trump and Xi took place amid ongoing trade tensions and restrictions between the United States and China.