Donald Trump claims his confrontational style of negotiation is working, declaring that Beijing has called him not just once but twice asking to restart negotiations following his trade war escalations of last week.

After proclaiming himself “The Chosen One” to take on China during a press conference on the White House lawn, the US president responded to retaliatory tariffs from Beijing by announcing on Twitter that he would boost tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports from 25 percent to 30 percent while also increasing tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of goods from 10 percent to 15 percent.

Trump also “ordered” American companies to “immediately start looking for an alternative to China,” including coming home and making their products in the US.

….better off without them. The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP. Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing.. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019

….all deliveries of Fentanyl from China (or anywhere else!). Fentanyl kills 100,000 Americans a year. President Xi said this would stop – it didn’t. Our Economy, because of our gains in the last 2 1/2 years, is MUCH larger than that of China. We will keep it that way! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019

At the G7 summit in France, where Trump’s trade war with China is contributing to worries about a global economic slowdown, the president appeared to suggest that he was having “second thoughts” about escalating the conflict.

However, the White House soon “clarified” Trump’s comments, claiming that Trump’s only misgivings were over whether he should have imposed even harsher tariffs against China.

On Monday, Trump claimed that Beijing had reached out twice over the weekend, seeking to resume trade negotiations and “make a deal.” He also went on to praise Xi Jinping as a “great leader” who knows “how life works.”

China has yet to confirm either of these calls and Trump is known for just making things up to make himself look good. At a regular press conference in Beijing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he had no info on the calls, adding later, “I can tell you clearly that I haven’t heard of such a thing.”

JUST IN: China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang says has no info on phone calls to U.S. cited by Trump, adding later “I can tell you clearly that I haven’t heard of such a thing”

* Says China will protect itself on trade if U.S. persists with current approach — Melissa Cheok (@mkcheok) August 26, 2019

Trade negotiations between the US and China were already set to resume in early September anyway with a Chinese delegation visiting Washington.

Both China watchers and Chinese state media alike aren’t putting any significance on Trump’s latest comments.

Liu He's comments about the US-China trade issues sound no different from what he and other officials and propaganda outlets have been saying for months, not sure why this is seen as a sign of softening from the Chinese side — Bill Bishop (@niubi) August 26, 2019

Based on what I know, Chinese and US top negotiators didn't hold phone talks in recent days. The two sides have been keeping contact at technical level, it doesn't have significance that President Trump suggested. China didn't change its position. China won't cave to US pressure. — Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) August 26, 2019