The president’s visit to Beijing to hold a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was initially scheduled for March 31–April 2.
WASHINGTON—As the Iran war continues, President Donald Trump said he would delay his long-awaited trip to Beijing, originally set for the end of this month.
“I have to be here, I feel. And so we’ve requested that we delay in a month or so,” Trump told reporters on March 16.
Trump’s visit to China to hold a summit with leader Xi Jinping was initially scheduled for March 31–April 2.
Trump indicated earlier that he might postpone his trip unless Beijing assists in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transit corridor currently closed by Iran. He has urged China to support U.S. efforts to reopen the waterway, but Beijing has so far remained unresponsive.
After the U.S.-Israeli strikes, Tehran closed the strait to most maritime traffic, raising concerns about a global oil price shock. On March 16, Brent oil settled at around $100 a barrel, nearly 40 percent higher than on Feb. 27, before the war.
On March 16, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified the president’s comments, explaining that any delay in the trip would be “because of logistics” rather than the president’s demand to reopen the strait.
“It would be a decision the president made as commander in chief to stay in the White House or to stay in the United States while this war is being prosecuted,” Bessent told CNBC.
The comments came after Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer held a new round of trade talks with their Chinese counterparts in Paris.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Bessent’s remarks.
“The dates may be moved,” Leavitt told reporters on March 16. “As commander-in-chief, it’s his No. 1 priority right now to ensure the continued success of this Operation Epic Fury.”
Gordon Chang, political commentator and China expert, said the president has a valid reason to postpone the trip.
“China is an enemy combatant, and it would not be appropriate for President Trump to go to its capital at the time of war. So I’m not surprised,” he told The Epoch Times.
During a lunch with the Trump Kennedy Center board members at the White House, Trump said China gets 90 percent of its oil from the region. He reiterated his calls for support to reopen the strait.
“Numerous countries have told me they’re on the way. Some are very enthusiastic about it,” Trump told reporters, referring to the countries that agreed to send warships to help escort commercial ships through the strait.
“I think we’re going to have some good help. And I think we’re going to be disappointed in some nations too,” Trump said. “I’ll let you know who those nations are.”
In a Truth Social post on March 15, Trump named China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK as nations he hoped would deploy ships to assist U.S. forces in the region.
But China is unlikely to help Trump, according to Chang.
“Until Trump imposes real costs on China, they’re not going to help the United States on Iran,” he said.
By Emel Akan and Dorothy Li
