Trump on U.S.-China trade: 'Sorry, it's the way I negotiate'

BIARRITZ, France (AP) — Brushing off concerns about global economic instability, President Donald Trump defended the way he is trying to squeeze a trade deal out of China on Monday, saying it’s a style that worked for him as a businessman.

Trump was challenged on a negotiating style in which he praises Chinese President Xi Jinping one day and castigates him the next. Allies are complaining that that’s contributing to instability problems for them and other nations, a reporter noted at a news conference closing out Trump’s participation in the Group of Seven summit.

“Sorry, it’s the way I negotiate,” he said.

The president said layers of U.S. tariffs have hurt China so badly that it will have no choice but to make a trade deal with the United States.

His trade war has been blamed for a global economic slowdown and has sown fears of an economic recession in the U.S. Some of the leaders meeting in the picturesque French seaside town of Biarritz urged Trump to bring the fight to a close.

French President Emmanuel Macron, the summit host who joined Trump at the top of his news conference, said the situation has created economic uncertainty and urged both sides to reach an agreement.

“What’s bad for the world economy is uncertainty,” Macron said, speaking in English. “The quicker an agreement is arrived at, the quicker that uncertainty will dissipate.”