Donald Trump said Thursday’s trade talks with China went “really well.”

Speaking to reporters on the lawn of the White House before departing for a political rally tonight, Trump said the first day of negotiations were going very well and confirmed that he would be meeting with the top Chinese negotiators at the White House on Friday.

“We’re going to meet with them tomorrow here,” Trump said. “And it’s going very, very well.”

The first day of high-level trade talks with China extended into late Thursday afternoon, a sign that talks are making progress and the two sides are proceeding amicably.

The last round of high-level talks in Shanghai was broken off early when Chinese and American officials quickly realized that neither side was willing to move far from the positions that had stalled talks back in the spring. President Trump responded by announcing a new round of tariff hikes and China promised retaliation.

On Thursday morning, it seemed talks might again be on the verge of a breakdown before they had even begun. The South China Morning Post reported deputy-level trade talks this week had made no progress and that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He would leave after the first day of what were scheduled to be two days of talks.

President Donald Trump, however, appears to have rescued the talks by announcing that he would host Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on Friday.

Big day of negotiations with China. They want to make a deal, but do I? I meet with the Vice Premier tomorrow at The White House. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2019

This afternoon lunch was delivered to the negotiators and the talks extended into the early evening.

There have been a number of reports in the media suggesting that the Trump administration may be open to a partial deal, perhaps around the idea of a currency pact. That could involve China agreeing to not allow its currency to fall below a specified range in exchange for the U.S. lifting the “currency manipulator” label and possibly easing back on existing tariffs or not implementing hikes scheduled for later this year.