Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump had a much-anticipated phone call on September 19 to discuss continuing trade talks, among other issues. Trump famously hosted Xi not at the White House but at his own resort in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. Trump also made his lone presidential visit to China in 2017, where he was given the imperial treatment. From Beijing’s perspective, a meeting with Xi is an extremely sensitive matter, especially given the likelihood for Trump to go off-script in ways that might embarrass China’s top leader. Analysts have broadly read these steps as evidence that the White House is prioritizing progress on trade talks.