Three sources outside the White House who are familiar with the Trump officials’ recent Beijing trip told me Mnuchin ran his own meetings with the Chinese on the last day of the trip, mostly keeping the rest of the U.S. team in a holding room.

There has been some concern within the administration that Mnuchin is trying to run these negotiations unilaterally. “Mnuchin marginalized the team and positioned himself as the guy,” a source familiar with the talks told me.

An administration source familiar with the China meetings pushed back hard against this, saying it’s a narrative being “pushed by interested parties both inside and outside” of the administration. He said the President is the one in charge of the deal and Mnuchin’s one-on-one talks with Liu He were brief, “completely appropriate,” and “highly choreographed,” adhering to protocol.