WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is set to begin on late Friday a three-nation tour of Asia with a visit to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia where he will attend the ASEAN summit before proceeding to Japan and South Korea and will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the three-nation tour, the White House said.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told a press conference on Thursday that Trump will meet with Xi on the morning of October 30 in South Korea before heading back to Washington.
Trump is due to arrive in Malaysia on Sunday (October 26) morning, the spokeswoman said. The country will be chairing annual meetings of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its partners.
Trump will attend the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26-27. He had skipped the ASEAN summits in 2018, 2019 and 2020
She said Trump will participate in an expanded bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday afternoon.
During the visit, the US President is slated to participate in a signing ceremony with Prime Ministers of Cambodia and Thailand, which engaged in a brief border conflict in July that left dozens of people dead and displaced many people. He will also later join a working dinner with US-ASEAN leaders.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared that the trip will include trade talks, peace dialogues, and discussions on US-China tensions.
After Malaysia, Trump will then fly to Japan to meet the new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and discuss trade agreements and security cooperation.
Following that, Trump will travel to South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Gyeongju, meet President Lee Jae Myung, and address business leaders.
The crucial bilateral meeting schdeuled with Chinese President Xi Jinping will focus on trade tensions, rare earth exports, and fentanyl cooperation.
Through these engagements, Trump seeks to negotiate favourable trade agreements, reduce tariffs, and boost US exports, with his return to Asia potentially redefining regional trade and diplomacy.