White House says Jimmy Carter wrote Trump ‘beautiful letter’ on China

President Trump spoke with former President Carter (D) after the latter wrote a “beautiful letter” about the administration’s ongoing trade negotiations with China, the White House said Monday.

The two men discussed Trump’s views on trade with China and “numerous other topics,” the White House said in a statement.

“The President has always liked President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and extended his best wishes to them on behalf of the American people,” the White House said.

{mosads}Carter, 94, told Sunday school attendees a day earlier that he’d received a call from the president and that they’d discussed China. Carter said Trump was concerned that China was “getting ahead of us,” according to the Atlanta NPR affiliate.

Carter, who signed accords in 1979 normalizing relations with China, has previously urged the U.S. and China to improve relations and find areas of common concern even amid a lengthy trade dispute.

Trump previously chided Carter in a 2013 tweet, saying he was “no longer considered the worst President in the history of the United States!”

Former President Jimmy Carter is so happy that he is no longer considered the worst President in the history of the United States!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2013

Trump has taken a hard-line stance against Beijing on trade policy. The two countries have been locked in a months-long trade dispute, with each imposing billions of dollars in tariffs on the other’s goods.

Representatives from the two sides have been locked in ongoing negotiations in recent months in an effort to reach a comprehensive trade deal. Trump said earlier this month that the two sides had agreed on a number of issues, but that there was work to be done before coming to a final pact.

Trump has said he will hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping before signing off on a deal. The president has touted his personal relationship with his Chinese counterpart, while railing against Beijing’s monetary policies and trade practices.