Donald Trump makes MidEast pit stop en route to Asia summits, Xi talks

Donald Trump has met with Qatar’s leaders to discuss the fragile truce in Gaza, stopping in the emirate on his way to Asia and talks with China’s Xi Jinping that the US President predicted could yield a “comprehensive deal”.

Trump’s refuelling stop in Qatar, a key ally in the Gaza negotiations, came as Israel conducted an airstrike targeting an alleged Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza, despite the ceasefire brokered by the US President.

Trump is set to meet Xi in South Korea on the last day of his regional swing in a bid to seal a deal to end the bruising trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump has also said he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his trip.

He will also visit Malaysia and Japan on the trip, his first to Asia since he returned to the White House in January in a blaze of tariffs and international dealmaking.

Aboard Air Force One at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, when asked about ending the trade row with Beijing, Trump said: “I think we have a really good chance of making a really comprehensive deal.”

Such an agreement would stave off further 100% tariffs on China that are due to come into effect on November 1.

During the pit stop at the base, which hosts the regional headquarters for the US military, Trump greeted Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

“What we’ve done is incredible peace to the Middle East, and they were a very big factor in it,” Trump said.

Before the long trip, the US President fuelled speculation that he could meet Kim for the first time since 2019, saying: “I’m open to it.”

Asked if he would consider North Korea’s demand to be recognised as a nuclear state as a precondition for talks, Trump replied: “Well, I think they are sort of a nuclear power... They got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”

Kim has said he would also be open to meeting the US President if Washington drops its demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear arsenal.

Peace and trade deals

Trump’s first stop will be Malaysia, where he arrives on Sunday, for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit – a meeting he skipped several times in his first term.

Trump is set to sign a trade deal with Malaysia, and will witness the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia in his continued quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.

He said he also expected to meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties with the leftist leader after months of bad blood.

The US President’s next destination is Tokyo. He will meet Japan’s first woman Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a conservative, on Tuesday.

Takaichi said on Saturday that she had a “good and candid” initial conversation with Trump.

Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States”.

Trump and Xi

The highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday before the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit.

Trump will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an Apec lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner on the sidelines of the summit in the city of Gyeongju.

He will meet Xi on Thursday for the first time since his return to office.

Global markets will be watching closely to see if they can halt the trade war sparked by Trump’s sweeping tariffs, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing’s rare-earth curbs.

Trump said he would also discuss fentanyl with Xi, as he raises pressure on Beijing to curb trafficking of the powerful opioid and cracks down on Latin American drug cartels.

– Agence France-Presse