Trump, dry announcement just before he left for China. Area where he doesn't need Xi's help: “We will win”
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would hold a lengthy discussion with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping about the conflict in Iran during his upcoming official visit to China, but added that he did not think he needed Xi's help to end the war, Reuters writes.
“I don't think we need help on Iran. We're going to win one way or another, peaceful or not,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for China.
The leaders of the world's two largest economies will hold their first face-to-face meeting in more than six months in an attempt to stabilize strained relations on trade, the US and Israel's war with Iran and other areas of disagreement.
Trump is moving toward China amid the unresolved war with Iran, with diplomatic negotiations to end it deadlocked. Beijing maintains relations with Tehran and remains a major consumer of Iranian oil exports.
Trump has so far pressed China to use its influence to get Tehran to strike a deal with Washington and end the conflict that began when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran in late February.
The Republican president is due to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday ahead of talks scheduled for Thursday and Friday. It will be his first visit to China since 2017.
Trump later told reporters: “We have a lot of things to talk about. To be honest, I wouldn't say Iran is one of them, because we have Iran under control.”
