WASHINGTON , March 18 – U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that China was “fine” with rescheduling his trip to Beijing, initially slated to begin at the end of this month, and that it is now expected to take place in “five or six weeks.”
Amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the United States and China are working to reset his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China has yet to confirm the postponement, even after Trump said Monday that he needed to stay in the United States to concentrate on the war, which has largely blocked the Strait of Hormuz and upended global energy markets since it began on Feb. 28.
Trump’s initial plan was to visit Beijing from March 31 to April 2, in his first trip to China since returning to office in January last year.
“I look forward to seeing President Xi. He looks forward to seeing me, I think,” Trump said Tuesday, adding that the current situation is “much different than it was in the past” due to the “very good working relationship” between the United States and China.
Since agreeing with Xi to a one-year truce in their trade war in October last year, Trump has suggested that the two countries have been making progress on the economic front.
Major topics expected to be discussed at the planned summit include trade and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, as well as additional Chinese purchases of American agricultural products, which Trump has wished to secure ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Near the outset of the war on Iran, Trump predicted it could last four to five weeks. But his projected timeline has since become increasingly inconsistent.
With escalations continuing in the Middle East, Trump recently repeated his call on China and U.S. allies, including Japan and South Korea, to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow stretch of water through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil supply usually flows.
But he said on social media Tuesday that the United States has succeeded in damaging Iran’s military capabilities and no longer seeks assistance from NATO allies, Australia, Japan or South Korea.
“We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” he said of North Atlantic Treaty Organization members.
“Speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE,” he wrote.
