President Donald Trump will travel to Asia next week for a series of high-stakes diplomatic meetings aimed at strengthening U.S. alliances, expanding trade, and confronting China’s growing regional influence. The trip will include stops in Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea, and may culminate in a closely watched meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump will begin his trip Sunday at the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he will meet regional leaders including Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Leaders at the summit are expected to press Trump on trade issues, including U.S. tariffs and China’s role in Southeast Asia.
From Monday through Wednesday, Trump will visit Japan for his first meeting with new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. They are expected to discuss military cooperation, increased defense spending, and a trade package that includes more Japanese imports of American soybeans, energy products, and Ford pickup trucks.
Reuters reports that Takaichi is prepared to offer concessions in response to U.S. trade demands, including reducing soybean imports from Brazil in favor of U.S. suppliers. The deal would be a major win for U.S. farmers, especially after China halted nearly all soybean purchases earlier this year.
Takaichi has pledged to raise Japan’s defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2026, but Trump is reportedly pushing for a 5 percent target—matching NATO’s aspirational levels. Japan’s Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro announced that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may join Trump for a joint meeting.
Trump will then travel to South Korea for the APEC summit, where he is expected to meet President Lee Jae-Myung. The trip may end with a key bilateral meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping on Thursday, October 30. The outcome could determine whether Trump moves forward with threatened 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.
With China backing authoritarian regimes and pushing its own trade networks, the trip is viewed as critical to preserving U.S. influence in Asia. Trump’s ability to rally allies like Japan and South Korea could block Beijing’s ambitions to lead a rival global order.
