U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have begun a high-profile summit in Busan, South Korea, as tensions continue to mount across the Indo-Pacific and trade disputes between Washington and Beijing remain unresolved.
At the start of their meeting, Trump described Xi as “a friend of mine” and “a great leader of a great country,” expressing confidence that their relationship would endure. Xi, speaking through an interpreter, acknowledged that differences were inevitable between the world’s two largest economies but said their relationship had stayed “stable.” He added that China’s development “goes hand in hand” with Trump’s ambition to “make America great again.”
The meeting came just hours after Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he had directed the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” with Russia and China — a move likely to heighten regional and global anxiety.
Busan marks the latest stop on Trump’s Asia tour, which earlier included Japan, where he met newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and signed a deal aimed at curbing China’s dominance in the critical minerals and rare-earth sectors.
And the 100% tariffs?
Gee whiz I dunno, maybe that was the whole point of the meeting or something 🤷🏼♂️