Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of Apec. Photo / Pool
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of Apec. Photo / Pool
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 Canada’s Mark Carney, Australia’s Anthony Albanese, and the SouthKorean 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 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.”
“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”.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of Apec. Photo / Pool
While the leaders were waiting for Luxon and Trump, at one point, Carney said, “Where are the Kiwis” to which Australia’s Albanese laughed.
During a family photo, Prime Minister Luxon stood between the Canadian and Viet Nam 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.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of Apec. Photo / Pool
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.
In a social media post, Prime Minister Luxon said, “New Zealand and the United States have a strong relationship and today we met to talk about how we can make it even stronger”.
No details were shared of the topics of the discussions.
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.
