Trump upbeat ahead of talks with Xi Jinping

US President Donald Trump on Friday departed for a three-nation Asia trip that will take him to Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea, as part of his renewed diplomatic outreach in the Indo-Pacific region.The White House said the visit will begin in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Trump will attend the ASEAN Summit before proceeding to Japan and South Korea. At the conclusion of the trip, he will hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

White House Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump will meet Xi on the morning of October 30 in South Korea before returning to Washington. Trump is expected to arrive in Malaysia on Sunday (October 26) morning, where he will attend the ASEAN Summit on October 26–27. This marks his first participation since skipping the meetings in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

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During his stay in Kuala Lumpur, Trump will meet Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and participate in a signing ceremony with the Prime Ministers of Cambodia and Thailand, whose countries recently experienced a brief border conflict. He will also join a working dinner with US-ASEAN leaders.

According to the White House, the Asia tour will focus on trade discussions, peace dialogues, and managing US-China tensions. After Malaysia, Trump will travel to Japan to meet new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to discuss economic cooperation and regional security.

Following Japan, Trump will head to South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Gyeongju, where he will meet President Lee Jae Myung and address business leaders. The key meeting with Xi Jinping is expected to cover trade frictions, rare earth exports, and fentanyl cooperation. Through these engagements, Trump aims to secure favourable trade deals, lower tariffs, and strengthen US exports — moves that could reshape Washington’s economic influence in Asia.

“We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump told reporters on Friday, expressing optimism about the talks. He added, “I will be talking about Taiwan. I won’t go there, but I will be talking about it. A lot of respect for Taiwan…” indicating that the sensitive issue will feature in the discussions.

Trump said he hopes China can “help us out” with Russia and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Speaking aboard Air Force One, he noted, “We want China to help us out on Russia.” He added, “We’ll have a good meeting. I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a great meeting, maybe a great meeting,” reiterating his confidence in the dialogue.

The US president highlighted the conflict’s toll, saying, “One of the things we’ll talk about is the Russia, Ukraine, they’re killing 7,000 people a week, soldiers, mostly soldiers, and we’ll certainly be talking about that.”

Trump’s comments followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s criticism of US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil. When asked about Putin’s remarks, Trump said, “I am glad he feels that way. I’ll let you know about it in six months from now. Let’s see how it all works out.”

Putin had described the sanctions as “an unfriendly move” but insisted they would not heavily impact Russia’s economy. He added, “This is, of course, an attempt to put pressure on Russia. But no self-respecting country and no self-respecting people ever decides anything under pressure.”

Putin noted that dialogue is preferable to confrontation, but Trump explained, “We cancelled the meeting with President Putin. It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I cancelled it, but we’ll do it in the future.” The United States has frozen the US-based assets of Rosneft and Lukoil and prohibited American entities from doing business with them.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the sanctions as “appropriate and necessary”, saying they reflect frustration over the lack of progress in peace talks.

She added, “The president wants to make sure that a meeting between himself and President Putin will be a good use of his time. He wants to see action, not just talk. He is extremely motivated by the success of his Middle East peace deal to get things done. And he wants this war to end.”