President Donald Trump is traveling to Asia as trade friction with China heats up and North Korea ramps up missile testing, with a face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping scheduled at the APEC summit and stops planned in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea.
Trump departs Friday evening for a trip meant to press U.S. interests and rebuild leverage in the region. The White House confirmed the sit-down with Xi during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, a chance to press for fairer trade and clearer security guarantees. For Republicans, this is a straightforward moment to demand a tough bargain while keeping diplomacy open.
The core flashpoint is Beijing’s recent announcement of export controls on rare-earth magnets, a move that touched critical supply chains used from electric vehicles to advanced military systems. Washington answered with a sweeping policy: a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods set to start Nov. 1, aimed at forcing Beijing back to the negotiating table. That combination of pressure and prospective negotiation is exactly the posture conservative voters expect when national security and jobs are at stake.
Trump has publicly mixed firmness with optimism in the run-up to the meeting, projecting confidence that a satisfactory outcome is possible. He has repeatedly highlighted his personal rapport with Xi as a tool to get results from a leader who respects strength. “I think we are going to come out very well and everyone’s going to be very happy,” he said Thursday.
The itinerary is carefully calibrated to show American engagement across Southeast and East Asia. He will first stop in Malaysia to meet Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and attend an ASEAN dinner, and will hold talks with leaders from Cambodia and Thailand while in the region. From there he moves to Tokyo to meet Japan’s newly elected prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, then on to Seoul for high-level talks and a keynote at the APEC CEO lunch.
These meetings are more than photo ops; they are opportunities to solidify defense cooperation, push back on economic coercion, and coordinate pressure on Pyongyang. North Korea’s recent actions complicate the agenda. The regime fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles Wednesday, its first launches since May, and displayed a new intercontinental missile at a military parade on Oct. 10.
“We are aware of the DPRK’s multiple ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as other regional allies and partners,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said in a statement on Wednesday. “The United States condemns these actions and calls on the DPRK to refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts,” INDOPACOM said. “While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory, or to our allies, we continue to monitor the situation.”
That clear, no-nonsense reaction fits the administration’s message: the U.S. will defend its allies and respond to provocations while keeping diplomatic options open. Trump’s cadence on China — a willingness to escalate economically until Beijing makes meaningful concessions — is being sold as practical statecraft rather than saber rattling. Republicans see leverage as the only reliable path to durable agreements on supply chains and strategic competition.
Once the APEC meeting wraps up, Trump heads back to Washington later in the week, leaving a trail of tough rhetoric and diplomatic engagement behind him. His schedule of bilateral talks and regional stops is meant to translate pressure into concrete shifts in behavior from Beijing and Pyongyang while reinforcing alliances. The trip will be judged not by its optics but by whether American interests come back stronger and more secure.
