The main purpose of Trump's trip, the first in his second term to the region, is to meet the Chinese leader. The talks, scheduled for October 30 in South Korea on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Community forum, will concern trade tensions between the superpowers. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House.
“I would like China to help us with Russia,” said the US president, quoted by Reuters. I would like China to help us, he emphasized.
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Trump flies to Asia. Will he meet with Kim Jong Un?
Asked by reporters aboard Air Force One about the possibility of meeting Kim, Trump replied: “I would like to, he knows we're going there.” He added that the North Korean side had been informed about his visit. He also emphasized good relations with the North Korean leader, whom he last met in 2019 during his first term. “I get along with him very well,” the president said.
The Asian visit schedule also includes Malaysia and Japan.
In Kuala Lumpur, the US president will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.. In turn, in Tokyo he will meet with the new Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, who will be sworn in this week, with whom – as Trump himself said – he has a “fantastic relationship.”
Takaichi is a protégé of assassinated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was nicknamed the “Trump whisperer” because he was one of the few world leaders who was able to successfully navigate Trump's changing style of diplomacy during his first term in the White House.
