Trump heads to Asia with hopes of shifting the momentum after midterm setbacks hurt him at home
President Donald Trump travels to Asia this week, seeking to regain momentum after Republican setbacks in midterm elections diminished his domestic standing.
The Republican president is using the international trip to try to shift momentum, and he is poised to make a splash with a historic three-way meeting with Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia to talk about their nuclear stockpiles. Trump has long boasted about leveraging his relationships with the leaders of two of America's biggest global adversaries, though he has failed so far to achieve major breakthroughs with them.
He first heads to the Philippines to meet on Tuesday with Southeast Asian leaders who look to the United States for help countering Beijing's aggression in the region. Trump will then go to China on Wednesday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. There, he will have his third face-to-face meeting this year with Xi and see Putin, too.
Historic meeting planned
A year ago, Trump used a similar Asia trip to agree on a trade truce with China and secure investment pledges from Japan and South Korea. This time, Trump is going with his party no longer in control of Congress as of January and with attention beginning to turn to a crop of presidential hopefuls who aim to replace him in 2028.
I think he, like other presidents, has figured out that in a moment where things are really hard domestically: Get on an airplane and go international.
Domestic challenges abroad
Trump is leaving as airlines struggled to get passengers onto flights after a nationwide ground stop on Friday led to thousands of flight cancellations. Trump and his officials have blamed their predecessors, a contractor and Congress for the problems.
His tariffs and war with Iran proved to be poisonous with voters. Going forward, Trump's ability to threaten import taxes or military assaults — two of his major foreign policy tools — will be limited by Democratic majorities on Capitol Hill in the new year.
Just last week, in a newfound vulnerability, his push to boost artificial intelligence was complicated when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned after admitting to an affair with an alleged Chinese government agent. Beijing has said it was not involved.
Democratic scrutiny awaits
Trump will be accompanied by Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX and Tesla, who is the world's wealthiest man and a frequent adviser to the president. Musk spent at least $445 million to try to help Republicans keep control of Congress, and Democrats are keen to investigate his ties to the administration.
Trump may find it easier to be in the company of foreign leaders than his own crumbling coalition at home. But his words and actions at the summits are now more likely to draw scrutiny in committee hearings when he returns to Washington.
We're going to have a very close eye on it.
Complex agenda awaits
Trump has suggested he wants to talk to Xi and Putin about nuclear weapons, an area that China has been reluctant to engage on in the past. China has a much smaller stockpile than the U.S. and Russia, giving it less incentive to agree to restraints.
The visit comes as Trump is at a crossroads over the war with Iran, which is widely blamed for his political support cratering at home. It's also a source of economic instability in Asia as jet fuel and diesel costs have soared.
Trump recently has played up chances for a settlement to Russia's war in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not been invited to the talks in China, drawing outrage from Democrats and some Russia hawks in his own party.
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