Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump has expressed anxiety about a dismal streak for the stock market over the past several days, telling advisers he is surprised a tentative deal he struck with Chinese President Xi Jinping hasn't gone over well with Wall Street, according to a person who has spoken with him.

Ahead of Trump's meeting with Xi, held on Saturday evening in Argentina, some of Trump's top advisers told him the shaky markets were partly due to unease over a brewing trade war with China. That left Trump hungry to strike some sort of deal with Xi, people familiar with the matter said.

When the two leaders' agreement was announced on Saturday, Trump felt confident it would help stabilize markets -- and it did, for one day.

But the rest of the week has been marked by volatility and steadily lower market closes. Markets fell 559 points Friday amid growing investor anxiety over conflicting signals from top White House advisers about whether Trump still plans to hike tariffs further if negotiations with China go south. The Dow closed down 1,150 points, or 4.5%, for the week.

Contrary to some his advisers, Trump remains confident his combative China policy is not roiling markets; instead, he's blamed the Federal Reserve. He has told people this week his agreement with Xi will eventually be seen as historic.

Read More