US politics live: ‘US should stop’: Beijing directly contradicts Donald Trump claims tariff talks are taking place

Donald Trump has claimed that Beijing and DC are already in talks about tariffs, but China has said the direct oposite.

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China has pushed back on claims by Donald Trump that it and the US are already in talks about tariffs. In a statement authorities in Beijing said the “US should stop” with the ”false” suggestions.

President Trump has reportedly been voicing his frustration to aides in private, having very much missed his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours.

CNN reports Mr Trump has said he wants a peace deal finalised by his hundredth day in office, which is fast approaching. But he’s increasingly annoyed by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and particularly their implacable “hate” for one another.

Mr Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow meeting Putin as Mr Trump seems desperate to get a deal done by his 100-day milestone, which is next week. But huge gulfs remain between Kyiv’s and Moscow’s positions.

Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes drama has erupted in the US government, as the man Mr Trump picked to lead the military embarks on a crusade against leaks to the media.

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host before he was appointed to lead the Pentagon, has been at the centre of controversy since it emerged that he had been sharing sensitive government information, some of it related to upcoming military strikes, on the unsecure app Signal, rather than through the usual, strictly secure channels.

Multiple senior staff at the Pentagon have been sacked as Mr Hegseth seeks to crack down on officials leaking to journalists.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported on a recent outburst, from Mr Hegseth, towards US navy Admiral Christopher Grady, whom he suspected of being responsible for that leak.

“I’ll hook you up to a f***ing polygraph!” he shouted at the Admiral, who at the time was serving as the acting head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Journal said Mr Hegseth went on to accuse other top officials of being the leaker, and also threatened them with polygraphs, though none ever actually happened.

Read on from more updates.

Originally published as US politics live: ‘US should stop’: Beijing directly contradicts Donald Trump claims tariff talks are taking place