President Donald Trump is touting a “fantastic meeting” with Chinese President Xi Jinping as he prepares for high-stakes talks in South Korea this Thursday.
“We are gonna be (having) a fantastic meeting,” Trump said from Tokyo. He expressed confidence that the “big meeting” at the APEC summit “is going to work out very well.”
This optimism comes amid a new round of trade hostilities. A recent calm was broken by China’s rare earth export controls and a subsequent US threat of 100% tariffs.
The dispute has also seen the US add new port fees, sparking a wave of countermeasures from China.
Trump, whose Asia trip is focused on trade, seems to be counting on his personal diplomacy, saying the meeting will be “great for everybody.”