President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he discussed the case of jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their summit in Washington last week.

Trump made the remarks to reporters when asked if he had brought up political prisoners, including Lai and Myanmar scholar Min Zin, an American citizen detained in June. "I did with President Xi. I did," Trump said. "We talked, and I think we had some very, very important discussions. Hopefully, fruitful discussions."

The White House had indicated ahead of Xi's visit that Trump planned to raise cases of individuals it considers wrongfully detained in China. Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, received a 20-year prison sentence in February on charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials under Hong Kong's national security law.

Trump's comments came amid pressure from the United Kingdom, where Prime Minister Andy Burnham had asked the U.S. leader to press Xi on Lai's behalf. Lai holds British citizenship, and his family has urged greater diplomatic efforts for his release. The case has drawn international attention as a symbol of Beijing's crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong following the 2019 protests.

This marks at least the second time Trump has raised Lai's situation directly with Xi, following an earlier appeal during a May meeting in Beijing. No details emerged on whether the latest discussion produced any commitments from China.