Trump to Beijing May 14-15 after Iran-war delay
President Donald Trump will travel to Beijing on May 14 and 15 for a rescheduled summit with China’s President Xi Jinping, the White House announced Wednesday.
The announcement came after Trump had earlier postponed a trip that had been planned for later in March, saying he would remain in Washington to help steward the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the rescheduling reflected that focus as the conflict continued, even as the U.S. presses Tehran to accept a ceasefire proposal.
Leavitt said, during a briefing, that the White House “always estimated four to six weeks,” when asked whether the new trip dates signaled Trump believed the war in Iran could end soon. “So you could do the math on that,” she said.
The trip’s timing also ties into the White House’s expectation of diplomatic leverage with Beijing. Trump had said last week, while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office, that he would be “resetting” his China visit, moving it to a timeframe “in five or six weeks’ time” rather than at the end of the month.
The White House also said Trump and first lady Melania Trump plan to host Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for a White House visit later this year. Leavitt made the comments as the administration sought to keep multiple foreign-policy tracks moving at once while the Iran campaign entered its second month.
The U.S. and Israel launched attacks against Iran on Feb. 28, according to the White House account repeated in the announcement. The China trip had begun to unravel as Trump pressured China and other world powers to use their military capabilities to protect the Strait of Hormuz, described by the White House and U.S. officials as a critical waterway for oil flows.
As Iran targeted energy infrastructure and traffic through the strait, the Strait of Hormuz was described as effectively closed, creating additional friction for any effort to coordinate with China during the conflict. Reporting on the planning suggested that the trip was seen as a chance to build on a fragile trade truce between the two countries, but it became tied to Trump’s search for an “endgame” for the Iran war.
The postponement and rescheduling follow earlier reporting that Trump delayed the Beijing visit to keep attention on the war in Iran MSI previously reported that Trump delayed the China trip to focus on the war in Iran. The new dates place the summit within a window the White House linked to its estimate for when the Iran conflict might reach a conclusion.