“We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House. “I think we’ll have a good meeting.”
The president’s long-haul flight has him arriving in Malaysia on Sunday morning, the first stop of a three-country sprint.
“America is shut down and the President is skipping town,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Friday night.
Trump threatened earlier this year to withhold trade deals with the countries if they didn’t stop fighting, and his administration has since been working with Malaysia to nail down an expanded ceasefire.
While there, Trump is expected to be hosted by Japanese Emperor Naruhito, and meet with U.S. troops who are stationed in Japan, according to a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity about the planned trip.
While the APEC summit is set to be held in Gyeongju, the Trump-Xi meeting is expected to take place in the city of Busan, according to the U.S. official.
Trump was infuriated earlier this month after Beijing imposed new export controls on rare earths used in technology and threatened to hike retaliatory tariffs to sky-high levels. He has said he wants China to buy U.S. soybeans. However, earlier this week, Trump was optimistic, predicting he would reach a “fantastic deal” with Xi.
But such a meeting is not on the president’s schedule for this trip, according to the U.S. official.
