President Trump reveals Xi Jinping's response to possibly releasing imprisoned Chinese critic Jimmy Lai

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. President Trump gave a candid response when asked about a discussion on releasing Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai during his summit with President Xi Jinping in China. President Donald Trump divulged how Chinese President Xi Jinping responded to his inquiry about releasing Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong businessman imprisoned after his outspoken criticism of the Chinese government. Lai, 78, is serving a 20-year sentence after the communist regime found him guilty of sedition and conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces. "I brought up Jimmy Lai. I would say the response to that was not positive. He said that he's been, you know, he said it's been sort of his worst nightmare," Trump told "Special Report" in an interview airing Friday. Trump said he spoke with Xi "at length" about Lai’s declining health as the media mogul remains in a Ho