Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has met with US President Donald Trump one-on-one on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) in Gyeongju, South Korea.
The meeting occurred moments before both men gathered with other world leaders – including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and the South Korean President Lee Jae Myung – for a very intimate dinner in the city’s Hilton Hotel.
Due to Luxon and Trump meeting privately, they were late to the Wednesday night dinner and walked in together.
Trump allowed Luxon to be greeted by the Korean President and waited patiently to the side as they shook hands.
The US President said hello to the media before turning to Luxon and saying: “New Zealand. Nice place.”
Luxon, who is bald, said the last time they met, the Korean President “gave me grief about my hair”.
“Your hair is beautiful,” Trump said in response.
Following that, Trump shook the hand of the Korean President.
“We should smile because we had a great time,” Trump said.
As he began to walk off, Trump said: “I like your man from New Zealand”.
While the leaders were waiting for Luxon and Trump, at one point, Carney said, “Where are the Kiwis?” to which Albanese laughed.
During a family photo, Prime Minister Luxon stood between the Canadian and Vietnamese leaders, with Trump in the middle of the pack.
The leaders then moved to a small round table dressed with a white cloth and flowers. A banner in the background said, “Special Dinner in honour of President Donald J Trump and State Leaders hosted by President Lee Jae Myung.”
Luxon told the Herald afterwards that his Government had “let it be known” to the United States administration “that we were open to” a meeting.
“Our schedule is always very last minute and so it got locked in earlier today, which was good,” Luxon said.
Asked whether the conversation canvassed New Zealand’s issues with Trump’s trade tariffs, Luxon said he wouldn’t go “through a blow-by-blow” of what was discussed privately with Trump.
“I can reassure you that the US administration is very, very clear of the New Zealand position on tariffs. Equally, we are very, very clear about their position on tariffs as well.”
He highlighted that New Zealand had received a lower tariff rate than many Asian nations Luxon had met with in Malaysia at the Association of South-East Asia Nations (Asean) forum.
“We can’t change US trade policy. We’ll continue to make the case for tariff-free and free trade, but everyone’s aware of each other’s positions”.
However, Luxon did give away that tariffs were a “topic of conversation” with the wider group of leaders.
He noted that the dinner happened at a “very small round table in a large room”.
“It was great... we had one group conversation the whole time. It was a chance for us across the table to very easily have a conversation.”
Luxon stressed the meeting with Trump was about building “some rapport and some relationship with each other”.
“We talked a little bit about my time in America and those sorts of things and our business backgrounds.”
During their one-on-one, which lasted a little over 10 minutes, Trump raised the “beauty of New Zealand” and its “great golf courses”.
Luxon, seeing an opportunity, said: “You need to come down”. Trump didn’t commit to anything, but again repeated that New Zealand “is such a beautiful country”.
The US President also asked Luxon to say hello to Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko, whom the New Zealand Prime Minister had coincidentally run into days earlier in Malaysia.
Security going into the dinner was very tight. The van taking international media into Gyeongju’s Hilton Hotel was searched, with media asked to show their official passes to a man dressed in a white soldier uniform.
Dogs circled each vehicle and mirrors were used to check under each vehicle.
After leaving, journalists were asked to leave all equipment outside to be checked by dogs while they went through security clearance.
This was the first meeting of Luxon and Trump. The pair previously spoke on the phone following the US President’s re-election last November.
They had a “good connection” during that phone call, Luxon told the Herald last week, and he believed any meeting would have a focus on “building the relationship”.
“We will have different views on trade, as we’ve articulated pretty well into their system. We’ll see how it goes, but if it happens, great, and if it doesn’t, you know, so be it as well.”
Earlier in the day, Luxon spoke in a “fireside chat” at an Apec CEO summit, moderated by television host Tian Wei from the Chinese state broadcaster, CGTN.
Trump also spoke at the summit in a wide-ranging speech spanning numerous topics, including foreign affairs, energy, and trade tariffs.
Jamie Ensor is a senior political reporter forNZ Heraldtravelling with the Prime Minister in Asia this week.