U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week during a visit to Asia, the White House confirmed on Thursday, ending speculation after recent tensions over trade.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that President Trump will depart for Malaysia late on Friday night. His trip will also include stops in Japan and South Korea, with the meeting with President Xi scheduled for next Thursday following Trump’s address at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit.
“On Thursday morning local time, President Trump will hold a bilateral meeting with President Xi of the People’s Republic of China before returning home,” Leavitt said.
The President’s itinerary begins on Sunday with a meeting with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a working dinner with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He will then travel to Tokyo on Monday to meet Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Trump heads to South Korea, where he will meet President Lee Jae Myung, deliver keynote remarks at a luncheon for business leaders on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and later attend a U.S.–APEC leaders’ working dinner.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have intensified since early October, when China significantly expanded restrictions on exports of rare-earth minerals. Trump swiftly threatened retaliatory tariffs and other measures, but in recent days has sounded more optimistic about achieving a trade agreement.
“I think we’re going to come out very well, and everyone’s going to be very happy,” Trump said on Thursday, striking a more positive tone than his top trade and finance officials, who are in Asia to ensure the meeting with Xi — the first of Trump’s second term — proceeds as planned.
Trump added that the first issue he intends to raise with President Xi will be fentanyl. Washington has long accused Beijing of failing to prevent the export of precursor chemicals used to produce the drug, which has driven overdose deaths in the United States. China, in turn, has rejected the accusation and accused Washington of using the issue to “blackmail” Beijing.
The White House has cited the flow of these chemicals from China as one of the reasons for increasing tariffs on Chinese imports.
“The first question I’m going to be asking him about is fentanyl,” Trump said. “I’m putting it right at the top of the list.”
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Global oil prices reached a four year high on Monday (9 March), surpassing $119 a barrel, as conflict in the Middle East rumbled on. Meanwhile, the Turkish Military said NATO air defence systems destroyed a missile fired from Iran towards the country.
Global oil prices surpassed $119 a barrel on Monday (9 March, 2026), an almost four year high, as the Middle East conflict rumbled on.
China has urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their dispute through dialogue after Chinese envoy Yue Xiaoyong met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, as fighting between the two neighbours entered its eleventh day.
Iranian civilian and military officials have pledged their obedience to the new leader, Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Khamenei, with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying his leadership “will herald a new era of dignity and authority for the Iranian nation.”.
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a hardline cleric with strong backing from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His rise signals continuity in Tehran's anti-Western policies.
Trump says the United States "don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won," targeting his criticism at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Israel continues to fire missles at strategic sites in Iran and Gulf regions report more strikes from Iran.
Global oil prices surpassed $119 a barrel on Monday (9 March, 2026), an almost four year high, as the Middle East conflict rumbled on.
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader on Monday (9 March), signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.
Entry and exit across the state border between Azerbaijan and Iran for all types of cargo vehicles, including those in transit, will resume on 9 March, according to a statement by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.
U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke by phone on Sunday as tensions between Washington and Westminster deepened over the conflict involving Iran. The call came less than a day after Trump criticised Britain’s response to U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.
Norwegian police are searching for a suspect after an explosion at the U.S. embassy in Oslo on 8 March caused minor damage but no injuries, in what authorities say may have been a deliberate attack linked to the Middle East crisis.
An explosion damaged a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège early on Monday (9 March) in what authorities said was an antisemitic attack that caused damage but no injuries.
The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers will meet on Monday to discuss a global rise in oil prices and a joint release of oil from emergency reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency, the Financial Times reports.
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