By early 1951, the war had settled around the 38th parallel and was moving into a stalemate. Truman was considering peace talks with North Korea, basically calling the war a draw and dividing the peninsula around the 38th parallel.
Truman had made it his goal to limit the war as much as possible and to keep the United States out of a direct war with China. MacArthur vehemently disagreed, arguing that the United States should take a hard-line stance against Communist China and prepare for war. Unlike Truman, MacArthur did not want to stop the war; he wanted to expand it As commander-in-chief, Truman was trying to do everything possible to keep the United States out of an atomic war. MacArthur did not seem to care.
This disagreement between commander-in-chief and general was about to explode and become national news.