President Trump reportedly spoke with former President Jimmy Carter on Saturday about China.

Emma Hurt, a reporter for NPR affiliate WABE, said in a series of tweets that Carter relayed his discussion with the president at church Sunday morning. Trump, Carter told those in attendance, is right to be worried “China is getting ahead of us.”

“In Sunday school this morning President Carter said he got a call from @realDonaldTrump last night, and they talked about China. Carter said Trump is rightly concerned that ‘China is getting ahead of us.’ #gapol,” Hurt tweeted.

“Carter said that’s true. He suggested maybe it’s because China hasn’t been spending money on war like the US. They haven’t been at war since we normalized diplomatic relations. He pointed out that of 242 years of existence, the #USA has been at peace for only 16 of them. #gapol,” she continued.

In Sunday school this morning President Carter said he got a call from @realDonaldTrump last night, and they talked about China. Carter said Trump is rightly concerned that “China is getting ahead of us.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/BYBUQhb2Tr — Emma N. Hurt (@Emma_Hurt) April 14, 2019

Carter said that’s true. He suggested maybe it’s because China hasn’t been spending money on war like the US. They haven’t been at war since we normalized diplomatic relations. He pointed out that of 242 years of existence, the #USA has been at peace for only 16 of them. #gapol — Emma N. Hurt (@Emma_Hurt) April 14, 2019

Carter told the audience that Saturday’s phone call marked the first time the president had called him, according to Hurt. The discussion, he said, was prompted by a letter Carter wrote to Trump about relations between the United States and China.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

Carter, the 39th president, normalized diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China in 1979 and outlined a roadmap in December to fix the relationship between the two countries.

Since assuming the presidency, Trump has sought to tamp down on theft by China of American intellectual property. He has also imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods, which led China to hit back with retaliatory tariffs.

On Saturday, Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said the U.S. and China were close to finishing their trade talks and indicated that a deal could be announced soon. “I think we’re hopeful that we’re getting close to the final round of concluding issues,” Mnuchin told reporters Saturday in Washington, D.C. He said administration officials, including U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, would have a pair of conference calls this week with Chinese negotiators to clear up the remaining issues and that they were “discussing whether more in-person meetings are necessary.”