Last week President Trump finally had the phone call with Xi Jinping that he was reportedly “obsessed” with arranging. Today Trump's top trade, treasury, and commerce officials are set to meet a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng at an undisclosed location in London for talks.

This followed a week of Trump suggesting he would blow up the crucial relationship with China that was only recently steadied after an alarming month of spiraling economic warfare. That began when, without advance warning, Trump posted that China “HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.” Then at 2am the day before the call, he wrote that Xi is “VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!”

Trump’s readout of his call with Xi was very optimistic, suggesting progress resolving recent disputes and promising another meeting of trade negotiators on both sides as well as a future trip to China. The Chinese readout, in contrast, indicated that the basic impasse in trade talks was unresolved, but also spoke encouragingly about reviving talks.

What to make of this commotion? Are we on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough or on the brink of the runaway great power crisis that seemed almost inevitable a few weeks ago? As so often with Trump, either of both extremes is a real possibility.