US President Donald Trump will lean on the power of in-person diplomacy on the first Asia trip of his second term as he meets with old rivals, new friends and, potentially, adversaries, while looking to cut deals that could have sweeping economic and national security implications.
But Trump’s love of tariffs — just like his unpredictable approach to relationships abroad — has generated uncertainty among once-solid US allies in the region, setting up a major test of whether the “Art of the Deal” author can deliver.
Trump arrived in Malaysia late Saturday (Sunday morning local time) for a six-day, three-country tour after having reimagined the role of the US in the world — a role he’s trying to defend against the rising influence of China, in particular, around the globe.
The “America First” president touts what he says are Trump-brokered ends to eight wars, including a fragile ceasefire for the Israel-Hamas conflict, and uses his tariff policy as leverage. And he’s said that the conflict whose resolution has been most elusive — Russia’s war in Ukraine — will be on the agenda during the highest-stakes meeting of the trip, with Xi Jinping, the leader of China, with which the US is embroiled in a simmering trade war.
In Kuala Lumpur, Trump will sign a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, the president said Saturday. The Southeast Asian neighbors agreed to a ceasefire in July to end escalating violence on their disputed border, after Trump warned their respective leaders he would not make trade deals with them if the deadly conflict continued.
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