Weakened Trump readies for high-stakes Asia trip

WASHINGTON: Weakened on the domestic front, President Donald Trump embarks this week on a long and challenging Asian tour set to be dominated by the North Korean nuclear threat after months of verbal escalation between Washington and Pyongyang.

Taking him from Japan to South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines, the bumper Nov 3-14 trip is the US leader’s first to the region since his election exactly a year ago.

On his agenda are several key regional summits but also closely-watched face-to-face meetings, be it with his powerful Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, or the controversial Philippines strongman, Rodrigo Duterte.

With his approval ratings languishing at record lows, will the 71-year-old president manage to leave behind the spectacular recent developments in the probe into Russian election meddling? Will he forego his morning tweeting for the duration of the 12-day trip?

The White House has sought to emphasize the length of the five-nation tour — the longest by any US president since George H.W. Bush in 1991 — as evidence of Trump’s commitment to engaging with the region.

But doubts linger on that point, most notably on the economic front following Trump’s abrupt decision — three days into office — to pull out of the TPP trans-Pacific trade deal, which unsettled several signatories and Japan in particular.

Supporters of the deal, struck in 2015 by 12 nations who together account for 40 per cent of the world economy, had championed it as a vital counterweight to the growing influence of China.

After a brief stopover in Hawaii, Trump will Sunday join his ‘friend’ Shinzo Abe for a new round of golf — following the one they shared in Florida last February — before a series of meetings aimed at underscoring the strength of the US-Japanese alliance.

In South Korea, Trump—unlike many of his predecessors — will not travel to the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Korean peninsula, instead delivering what is set to be a closely-scrutinised speech before the country’s national assembly.

Seoul will be hoping during Trump’s two-day visit starting Tuesday for a reaffirmation of its alliance with Washington, at a time when the North is pushing ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in defiance of the international community.

It is also seeking reassurances of a different nature.

“South Koreans also want to know that the United States is not going to prematurely or unnecessarily draw South Korea into any kind of military conflict,” said Scott Snyder of the New York-based think-tank the Council on Foreign Relations.

Since taking office, the US president has vowed to unleash ‘fire and fury’ if threatened by Kim Jong-Un’s regime, has contradicted his top diplomat about direct contacts with Pyongyang, and sent out a string of cryptic messages — “We’ll do what has to be done!” — that ultimately left observers guessing at his true intentions toward North Korea.