Trump Says Xi Jinping Gave Negative Response on Releasing Imprisoned Hong Kong Publisher Jimmy Lai

President Donald Trump revealed how Chinese President Xi Jinping responded to his request to release Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong businessman jailed for criticizing the Chinese government.

Lai, 78, is serving a 20-year sentence after authorities convicted him 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 while the media mogul remains in a Hong Kong prison under reportedly harsh conditions.

"I said, well, I would appreciate it if you would release him. He's gotten old and he's probably not feeling too well, it would be nice," the president told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier.

"I did not feel optimistic. I have to be honest with you about that one."

Jimmy Lai's daughter Claire Lai expressed strong hopes for her father's release on The Will Cain Show Thursday, calling Trump the liberator-in-chief.

"I'm more hopeful than I've ever been that he is the president and this is the administration that will free my father, and we are just so extremely grateful," she said before Trump spoke with Xi about Lai's release.

Lai, imprisoned in 2020, founded a pro-democracy newspaper that regularly criticized the Communist Party. Chinese authorities said this was an effort to undermine the government.

Trump pointed to hundreds of prisoners he has helped release, including American Pastor Andrew Brunson from Turkey, even though he could not secure Lai's freedom from Hong Kong.

The president criticized former President Joe Biden's approach to prisoner releases, calling it a waste of American money.

"I've gotten hundreds of people out, and, by the way, I don't pay a lot of money. I don't pay any money, like Biden, where they give $6 billion all the time to get people out," he said.

Lai's release is not the only issue dividing the two superpowers. Xi warned that Taiwan could lead to clashes and even conflicts between the United States and China.

Xi did offer to help the United States broker a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.