President Trump said Monday that the U.S. has asked Beijing to delay his planned trip to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping by “a month or so” because of the ongoing war in Iran.
Mr. Trump was expected to travel to Beijing and meet with Mr. Xi at the end of March for a high-stakes, in-person sit-down over trade and other issues.
When asked during an Oval Office event, the president said he didn’t know if the trip was still on.
“We’re working on that right now,” Mr. Trump said.
“We’re speaking to China. I’d love to, but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I feel,” he said. “And so, we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so.”
China receives much of its oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz bordering Iran, a route that is virtually closed due to the war.
“I’m looking forward to being with him. We have a very good relationship,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Xi. “There’s no tricks to it either. It’s very simple. We’ve got a war going on. I think it’s important that I be here.”
The visit to China would be the first by a U.S. president since Mr. Trump’s first term in 2017. Five months ago, the two leaders met in the South Korean city of Busan, where they agreed to a one-year truce in a trade war that saw tariffs soar to triple digits.
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