The White House on Thursday (October 23) released President Trump’s itinerary for his Asia trip, which includes meetings with the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the newly appointed Japanese Prime Minister, Kiyoshi Haya, as well as a meeting with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in South Korea next Thursday (October 30).
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt announced President Trump’s travel schedule during a press briefing on Thursday.
She stated that Trump will depart for Malaysia later on Friday (October 24) and will also visit South Korea. The President will hold a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday morning local time. Following the meeting, Trump will return to Washington D.C.
Trump will participate in the opening of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Leaders’ Summit on Sunday (October 26) in Malaysia. Leavitt mentioned that President Trump will first hold a bilateral meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar, and will attend the ASEAN Leaders’ working dinner on Sunday evening.
Leavitt also mentioned that President Trump will fly to Tokyo on Monday morning local time (October 27); on Tuesday morning local time, he will have a bilateral meeting with the new Japanese Prime Minister Kiyoshi Haya; on Wednesday morning local time, the President will fly to Busan to meet with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and will deliver a keynote address at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) CEO Lunch, followed by attending the U.S.-APEC Leaders’ working dinner.
The meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping on October 30 has drawn global attention. The two countries have recently reignited their trade war over rare earth issues. On October 9, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced an expanded export control on rare earth products; on October 10, Trump announced a 100% tariff increase on Chinese exports to the U.S. and restricted the export of key software, effective from November 1.
Trump has stated repeatedly this week that if the U.S. and China cannot reach a trade agreement, tariffs on China will increase to 155% starting from November 1.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated on Wednesday that he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Malaysia to meet with Chinese officials to discuss the “extremely aggressive” and “disproportionate” measures taken by Beijing to restrict rare earth exports.