“With my experience with the Chinese, they are suspicious in the initial rounds of a negotiation that there are hidden traps or other reasons to be cautious,” said Michael Pillsbury, a China expert who advises the Trump administration on dealing with the country.

Michael Pillsbury, a China expert who advised Trump during his first-term trade negotiations, told the NYT that Trump had shared with him "a few months ago" his desire to secure a deal with Xi "that benefits both sides."

Michael Pillsbury, who served as Mr. Trump’s top outside adviser on China during his first term, said that meetings among midlevel American and Chinese officials tend to be fruitless because they have little authority to make major policy decisions. He said that he expected that Mr. Trump would have little patience in such a format and that he instead would focus on direct talks with President Xi Jinping.