Trump heads to a three-nation sprint in Asia, meeting with Xi as the government shutdown continues at home

President Donald Trump headed to Asia on Friday evening for the first time this season, a trip in which he is expected to work on investment deals and peace efforts before meeting face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to calm the trade war.

“We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House. “I think we’ll have a good meeting.”

The president is scheduled to take a long flight to Malaysia on Sunday morning, the first stop on a three-country tour.

His journey comes as… The US government shutdown continues.

Many federal workers were hired Miss their first full paycheck this weekThere are flight disruptions as overworked air traffic controllers are already working without pay, and states face the prospect of federal food aid drying up.

With Republicans rejecting Democrats’ demands for health care funding, there is no sign of the impasse breaking, but Trump appears to be continuing with business as usual, including his foreign trip.

“America is on lockdown and the president is leaving town,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Friday night.

Trump’s first stop will be at a regional summit in Kuala Lumpur. Trump attended the annual ASEAN summit just once during his first term, but this year comes as Malaysia and the United States work to address skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia.

On Sunday, he is scheduled to hold a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, followed by a joint signing ceremony with the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia.

Trump threatened earlier this year to halt trade deals with countries if they did not stop fighting, and since then his administration has been working with Malaysia to reach an expanded ceasefire.

The president credited Ibrahim with working to resolve the conflict.

“I told the leader of Malaysia, who is a very good man, ‘I think I owe you a trip,'” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

On Sunday, the US President may also hold an important meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants to see the US reduce tariffs by 40% on Brazilian imports.

The US administration justified the tariffs by referring to the Brazilian criminal trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro – a Trump ally.

Aside from trade, Lula on Friday also criticized the US military strike campaign off the coast of South America in the name of combating drug trafficking. He said he planned to raise his concerns with Trump during a meeting on Sunday in Malaysia. The White House has not yet publicly confirmed the date of the meeting.

After Malaysia, Trump stopped in Japan and South Korea

From there, Trump heads to Japan and South Korea, where he is expected to make progress in talks on at least $900 billion in investments in U.S. factories and other projects that those countries have committed to in exchange for an easing of Trump’s planned tariff rates to 15% from 25%.

The trip to Tokyo comes a week after Japan elected its first female prime minister. Sanae Takaishi. Trump is scheduled to meet with Takaishi, a disciple of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Trump was close to Abe, who was assassinated after leaving office.

Trump said Takaishi’s relationship with Abe was a “good sign” and “I look forward to meeting her.”

While there, Japanese Emperor Naruhito is expected to host Trump and meet with U.S. troops stationed in Japan, according to a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity about the planned trip.

In South Korea, Trump is expected to hold an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

While the APEC summit is scheduled to be held in Jeonju, the Trump-Xi meeting is expected to be held in Busan, according to the US official.

The meeting comes after months of volatile movements in… The trade war between China and the United States That shook the global economy.

Trump was angered earlier this month after Beijing imposed new controls on exports of rare earth elements used in technology and threatened to raise retaliatory tariffs to high levels.

He said he wants China to buy American soybeans. However, earlier this week, Trump was optimistic, predicting that he would reach a “great deal” with Xi.

Trump also said he might ask Xi about the matter Edited by Jimmy Laifounder of a pro-democracy newspaper, said, “You’ll be on my list.”

The only meeting that could overshadow Xi’s summit is an impromptu meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Speculation has been rife since South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-yong told lawmakers this month that it was possible that Trump could meet again with Kim in the demilitarized zone, as he did in 2019.

But such a meeting is not on the president’s schedule for this trip, according to the US official.

Trump noted that it is difficult to communicate with the North Korean leader.

He added: “They have a lot of nuclear weapons, but they don’t have a lot of phone services.”