Trump Asia Tour After Midterm Losses
Donald Trump heads to Asia this week for a Trump Asia tour that will test how much authority he still carries abroad after his party lost control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. The United States president will attend the ASEAN summit in the Philippines and the APEC summit in China, where he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The trip comes at a difficult moment for Trump at home. Democrats seized the House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterms, and the 80-year-old Republican is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in the 2028 presidential race.
“After bad midterms, this is how presidents reset,” Edgard Kagan, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told a news briefing.
Trump Asia tour: what is at stake
The tour matters because Asia is where the biggest questions in American foreign policy now sit. Trade, China, North Korea and the war in Iran all feature on the agenda, and leaders across the region will watch closely to see whether the midterm result has changed how Trump acts.
China has described the midterms as an “internal affair” and said it is “willing to continue working” with the United States after the Republican losses. But the power shift in Washington will still be on the minds of leaders in the region, said Joshua Kurlantzick, an expert in Southeast Asia and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“In private, many (Asian) leaders are relieved,” Kurlantzick wrote in an article this month. He said the Iran war had been particularly hard for the United States’ Asian partners and allies, and they hoped that after the midterm results Trump’s decision-making on the issue would become more predictable. Trump has said several times since the midterms that renewed fighting between the US and Iran is unlikely.
Tariffs and China in focus
A Democratic-controlled Congress could also take a tougher stance towards China, Kurlantzick added, stepping back from the Trump administration’s softer approach to Beijing.
Leaders in Asia also hope to see Democrats push back on Trump’s barrage of tariffs on trading partners, which have stung export-heavy Asian economies.
For Pakistan, the tariff question is not abstract. Feature Pakistan reported that Pakistan’s exports to Europe dipped despite GSP+ while remittances nearly covered the trade deficit, and the government is counting the cost of the Afghan trade ban, which has cost about $1bn in exports.
Iran and the Pakistan angle
The Iran question carries the most direct weight for Pakistan, which shares a long border with Iran and watched the US-Iran war closely earlier this year.
That matters for Pakistan’s economy as well as its security. The war pushed up oil prices and rattled markets across the region, and Brent crude fell almost 5% when Trump signalled restraint.
A meeting with Xi and Putin
Trump relishes dramatic gestures, and foreign policy gives him the ideal arena for high-profile meetings with leaders such as Xi and Putin. Trump told reporters this week he expects to meet both men at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, scheduled for November 18 and 19. The president said “denuclearisation” and ending the war in Iran would be on the agenda.
But the bigger goal for Trump may well be a single photograph of himself standing with the two other leaders he views as his great power equals, said Kurt Campbell, chair of The Asia Group and a senior diplomat during the Biden administration. “I think in many respects this could be ‘the meeting is the message’,” Campbell said. Feature Pakistan has reported that Putin, Trump and Xi have all eyed a trilateral meeting at APEC.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who watched in horror as the White House appeared to pivot towards Moscow this year, has warned against a “Yalta 2.0”, referring to Western leaders dividing Europe with the Soviet Union in 1945.
Victor Cha of CSIS said the midterm defeat made a high-profile meeting more likely, with North Korea a legacy issue for Trump.
What happens next
The ASEAN summit comes first, then APEC in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19. The meetings with Xi and Putin will show whether Trump can still command the room as a lame duck president. For Pakistan and its neighbours, the answers on tariffs, Iran and China will shape the months ahead.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Trump travelling in Asia?
Trump will attend the ASEAN summit in the Philippines and the APEC summit in China. He expects to meet Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at APEC in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19.
Why does the Asia tour matter after the midterms?
Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, and Trump cannot seek a third term in 2028. The tour is his chance to show he still leads American foreign policy.
What will Trump discuss with Xi and Putin?
Trump said “denuclearisation” and ending the war in Iran would be on the agenda. Analysts say the meeting itself may matter as much as any formal outcome.
How does the tour affect Pakistan?
Tariffs and the Iran question affect Pakistan directly. The country exports to markets hit by US tariffs, and it shares a border with Iran.
What did Asian leaders say about the midterms?
China called the midterms an “internal affair” and said it was willing to keep working with the United States. Analysts say many Asian leaders are privately relieved.
