Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an appearance on Fox News on Thursday night, said that trade negotiations between the United States and China are “a bit stalled” and that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping may need to speak to each other to move forward.

Separately, White House aides, after working to persuade the president to temper his public criticism of Musk to avoid escalation, scheduled a call Friday with the billionaire CEO of Tesla to broker a peace.