Trump begins trip to 5 Asian nations
N. Korea tensions serve as backdrop
HONOLULU — President Donald Trump arrived Friday afternoon in Hawaii, landing at Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam ahead of a nearly twoweek trip to five Asian nations focusing on trade and security.
Mr. Trump, who is visiting the state for the first time since his inauguration, was greeted by Gov. David Ige before starting a one-night stay in Honolulu that includes visits to military officials at Pacific Command, a tour of Pearl Harbor and a wreath ceremony at the Arizona memorial. First lady Melania Trump is joining the president during his travels.
A small number of Mr. Trump’s supporters and many anti-Trump protesters are expected to demonstrate on the streets as he makes his way to sites around the city before sleeping at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in tourist-heavy Waikiki.
A coalition of civil rights groups planned to protest the president Friday in front of the state Capitol, and another antiTrump demonstration was expected Saturday. Mr. Trump’s approval ratings in Democraticrun Hawaii, which has filed multiple lawsuits that blocked his travel ban, are among his lowest in the nation.
The president’s trip comes amid growing tensions in the Pacific over nuclear threats from North Korea. Mr. Trump’s agenda for his stop in Hawaii includes a meeting with governors from five U.S. states and territories that are among those most vulnerable to attack from the rogue nation.
Mr. Trump’s Friday schedule included face time with governors of Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, American Samoa and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to discuss concerns about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Mr. Kim has threatened to bomb Guam, and Mr. Trump has suggested that the U.S. may attack North Korea.
Tensions have especially grown in Hawaii, which next month will start testing a statewide bomb-warning system that hasn’t been used since the Cold War. Emergency preparedness officials in the state are holding seminars for residents in case North Korea develops the capability to hit it with missiles.
The president is scheduled to depart Saturday morning for Japan, where he will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and attend state events before traveling to South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. In Asia, Mr. Trump will join meetings with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders group and the Association of Southeast AsianNations.
Mr. Trump is being pulled in different directions as he heads to Asia.
The president’s supporters are eager to hear him take a hard line on the Chinese trade and economic practices he railed against as a candidate. But many in his administration are urging Mr. Trump to sweep those concerns aside as he works to pressure China’s Xi Jinping to tighten the screwson North Korea.
At the same time, much of the president’s attention has been occupied by urgent matters at home, including indictments against two top campaign aides, the deepening Russia investigation and a high-stakes fight over his tax plan. By the admission of his own chief of staff, Mr. Trump has been distracted — as also demonstrated by the flurry of tweets he unleashed Friday before departing Washington and continued from aboard Air Force One. In 14 tweets over six hours, the president dug deep into intrigue surrounding Hillary Clinton and the 2016 presidential race and other issues, with just one tweet devoted to his trip.
Even before the latest news, concerns abounded over how the president, a homebody who dislikes long stretches on the road, would fare during a marathon trip that will take him to five countries in 12 days.
“There were always questions as to what the end of the trip would look like. Would he become distracted?” said Mireya Solis, a senior fellow at the Brookings Center for East Asia Policy Studies. “Now I think the question has shifted: Is he going to be distracted from the get-go? Are the domestic political problems going to be first and foremoston his mind?”
The administration projected confidence as it scrambled to lock down Mr. Trump’s itinerary, describing the president as wellversed in the region and familiar with its leaders. National security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters Thursday that Mr. Trump had placed 43 calls to Indo-Pacific leaders as president and met with the heads of Japan, South Korea, China and Vietnam, among others in the region — some several times. Mr. Trump has also worked to develop close personal relationships with Mr. Xi and Mr. Abe — ties he hopes will paydividends.