US President Donald Trump will test his deal-making skills during a trip to Asia, a region hit by his tough trade policies, as uncertainty looms over his long-awaited meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump, who left Washington on Friday night, is embarking on a five-day trip to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea - his first trip to the region and his longest foreign trip since taking office in January.
The Republican leader hopes to reach trade agreements, agreements on critical minerals and a ceasefire before facing the toughest challenge of all – a face-to-face meeting with Xi on Thursday in South Korea.
Trump is also seeking to preserve the main foreign policy achievement of his second term – the fragile ceasefire he helped broker in the conflict between Israel and Gaza – while the war in Ukraine continues and the trade war with China shows no sign of ending.
Washington and Beijing have increased tariffs on each other's exports and threatened to completely halt trade in key minerals and technologies.
The White House officially announced the trip on Thursday. Details are still uncertain, including whether the leaders of the world's two largest economies will meet.
Neither side expects progress that would restore trade conditions to what they were before President Trump took office in January, according to a person familiar with the talks. Instead, talks between the two sides in preparation for the meeting have focused on managing differences and making modest improvements.
An interim agreement could include limited tariff relief, an extension of current rates or a commitment by China to buy American soybean products and Boeing aircraft.
Washington could allow greater exports of high-end computer chips to Beijing, which in turn could relax controls on rare-earth magnets, which have previously angered Trump.
Or the conversation may not produce any results at all.
On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said the conversation between Trump and Xi would be "casual," suggesting there would be no formal meeting. Trump later told reporters that the two would have a "fairly long meeting" that would allow them to "look together at many issues, concerns and enormous resources."
China has not yet confirmed that the meeting is planned.
Trump is expected at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which begins Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
There, he could oversee the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia. The agreement would formalize a deal that ended the most violent conflict between the two countries in years, though it falls short of a comprehensive peace agreement. During his second term as president, Trump has portrayed himself as a global peacemaker.
After that, Trump will travel to Japan to meet with Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected prime minister. Takaichi is expected to confirm his predecessor's plans to increase military spending and invest $550 billion in the United States, aligned with Trump's priorities.
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