Washington — President Trump says he’s delaying his trip to China because of the war with Iran, now in its third week.
On Monday, he told reporters he had requested that his visit be delayed by a month or so, and on Tuesday, he said China was “fine” with that proposal. The president had been scheduled to arrive in China in early April.
“We’re resetting the meeting and it looks like it’ll take place in about five weeks,” he told reporters in the Oval Office in an event with Micheál Martin, the Irish prime minister. “We’re working with China. They were fine with it. I look forward to seeing President Xi; he looks forward to seeing me, I think.”
China has not yet confirmed the postponement. During another White House event on Monday, Mr. Trump indicated he’d “love to” go to China, “but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I feel.”
The president has urged Beijing and other countries to help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz to try to bring down oil prices that have surged since the Iran war began.
In an interview Sunday with the Financial Times, Mr. Trump said that China’s reliance on oil from the Middle East means it should help with a new coalition he’s trying to assemble to restart oil tanker traffic through the strait after Iran’s threats have throttled global flows of oil.
Relations with China have been fraught as both sides have threatened the other with steep tariffs over the past year.
Earlier Monday, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said during a news conference Monday that China and the U.S. “are maintaining communication regarding President Trump’s visit to China,” but he didn’t address Mr. Trump’s pressure on NATO allies and China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to French news agency AFP.