Day 1 of Trump’s Asia tour provides flashy moments but unclear substance.
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President Trump arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for the start of a nearly weeklong tour of Asia and launched into a diplomatic whirlwind that included a peace deal and agreements on tariffs and critical minerals.
From the moment he arrived on the tarmac in Kuala Lumpur, fists pumping to the music of drummers beating, he seemed intent on presenting a friendly showman’s face to a part of the world that has been shaken by his aggressive tariffs.
But aside from the flashy diplomacy, it appeared for the most part that the substance of his administration’s approach to its allies in the Indo-Pacific had not changed. Instead, the agreements he struck with several Southeast Asian nations — Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia — seemed designed more to contain China on multiple fronts, including through export controls, sanctions and access to critical minerals.
As Mr. Trump prepares to meet with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, later this week, his administration is trying to provide him as much leverage as possible in a long-running trade dispute that has weighed on both Washington and Beijing.
Mr. Trump arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday morning, leaving several international and domestic spats in his wake. He sharply cut off trade talks with Canada on the eve of his trip after deploying an aircraft carrier to stalk Venezuela, razing the East Wing of the White House and deploying soldiers to American cities.
That seemed far from Mr. Trump’s mind as he spent several minutes relishing the pomp of his arrival ceremony on the tarmac in Malaysia. He mouthed “thank you” to people assembled to see him who were waving American and Malaysian flags, before climbing into his limousine, known as The Beast, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia.
Soon after, Mr. Trump presided over a peace deal ceremony between Cambodia and Thailand, whose brief war in July is one of more than half a dozen conflicts that he has taken credit for ending.
“This is a momentous day for all of the people of Southeast Asia as we sign a historic agreement to end the military conflict between Cambodia and Thailand,” Mr. Trump said in a speech at the ceremony. Though a cease-fire was signed by the two countries three months ago, Mr. Trump said the new deal would lead to the release of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war, a term the Thai prime minister said he agreed with.
The accord’s signing had been planned for later in the day, but Mr. Trump said it would move up to within hours of his arrival. The signing ceremony ended with the separate signing of an agreement on reciprocal trade with Cambodia and a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals with Thailand.
Neither agreement appeared to considerably change the countries’ trade relationship with the United States, nor did the one signed with Malaysia later in the day. In all three cases, the countries kept the 19 percent tariff rate that Mr. Trump imposed earlier in his term.
But the agreements did contain commitments from the three countries to assist the United States in containing China by supporting Mr. Trump’s aim to reduce Beijing’s stranglehold on some of the most important materials that go into a wide array of products, such as batteries, smartphones and magnets for fighter jets.
China and the United States, the world’s two economic superpowers, have been sparring since Mr. Trump’s return to office. In response to steep U.S. tariffs, China announced this month that it would curb the export of rare earths, of which it has the world’s largest supply. Mr. Trump vowed to increase tariffs further if it did.
Representatives from China and the United States met separately on Sunday to discuss trade between the two countries and came to a “very substantial framework” agreement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Final decisions about any deal, however, will be determined by Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi. The two men are scheduled to meet in South Korea later in the week in what would be their first face-to-face meeting since Mr. Trump returned to the White House.
The White House said in a statement later on Sunday that the United States and Vietnam had also agreed to the framework of a trade agreement. The so-called reciprocal tariff on Vietnamese exports would remain 20 percent.
At a working lunch with leaders from several Southeast Asian nations, Mr. Trump — his voice hoarser and lower than usual after a 24-hour trip — joked that he had hoped to “take it easy” but that his schedule in Malaysia had dictated otherwise. In fact, the White House adjusted his schedule: The working lunch had been planned as a working dinner until last-minute changes on Sunday morning.
In a brief speech to the assembled leaders, who were gathered in Kuala Lumpur for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Mr. Trump stuck closely to his prepared remarks, seeming to rush through it at times.
Mr. Trump is expected to leave Malaysia on Monday for Japan, where he will meet with the country’s new leader, Sanae Takaichi, the first woman to serve as the country’s prime minister, and potentially finalize the details of a trade agreement.
He will then travel to Gyeongju, South Korea, where he will attend the summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and meet with Mr. Xi.
Alexandra Stevenson and Alan Rappeport contributed reporting.
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