Listen to this article with a free account
President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States has requested that his trip to China be delayed by “about a month”, citing the war in Iran.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he did not know whether he still planned to travel to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month as planned.
“I would love to, but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I feel that. And so we asked to delay that for about a month,” Trump said.
“It’s very simple. We are at war. I think it is important that I am here, so we might delay a little, not much,” he added.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks.
The Trump administration began casting doubt on the trip earlier in the day, when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it might not take place as planned. Bessent said any delay was not a tactic to pressure Beijing get involved in the Strait of Hormuz.
Bessent seemed to be referring to an article by The Financial Times, which reports that Trump said in an interview that he wanted China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and wanted to know before the planned summit.
The Strait of Hormuz, a major trade route through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes, is essentially closed after several ships were attacked after the start of the war. Iran has threatened to strike ships on the route along its coast, creating disarray in global markets.
Trump, who last week said the United States had destroyed 28 ships capable of laying mines, wants other countries to help reopen the shipping canal. In a telephone interview with NBC News On Saturday, Trump said several countries would help secure the strait, and post to Truth Social he named China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and “others” among the countries he hoped to help.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said NBC News “Meet the Press” On Sunday, he hoped that China would be a “constructive partner”. But a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington told CNN that China wanted hostilities to cease, without responding to Trump’s request.
China, the world’s largest importer of energy, which counts Iran as an ally, condemned US and Israeli strikes against Iran, saying they “violate international law”, and he defended Iran’s sovereignty.
China gets about half its oil from the Middle East, meaning a blocked strait could seriously affect its economy. THE Associated Press reported last week that ships passing through the strait began identifying themselves as China-linked to avoid attack. Bessent also said that some ships were crossing the strait successfully, including Chinese ships.
