Five important takeaways from Trump’s week in Asia

President Trump is back in Washington after spending a week in Asia. He attended the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, addressed US troops in Japan and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Here are five lessons from the president’s first visit to the region during his second term.

1) US-China trade relations have largely stabilized…

On the flight back to Washington after his meeting with Xi on Thursday, Trump said the tariff on Chinese exports would be cut from 57% to 47%. The 10-point drop comes as Xi has committed to reducing the amount of fentanyl entering the US. The issue has been a priority for Trump, who months ago imposed an additional 20% tariff on China over fentanyl.

Trump also said China would resume purchasing soybeans from the U.S., which has been a major problem for U.S. farmers since China halted those purchases.

China also agreed to lift additional restrictions it had placed on rare earth exports in exchange for the US rolling back some of its own export restrictions. That agreement is valid for one year.

These minerals are critical to the US and other countries because they are used in military equipment and other technology.

2) But no final deal has been made yet

“It was an excellent group of decisions that I think were made,” Trump told reporters after his meeting with Xi. “There wasn’t much left.”

But he was not specific about what exactly China and the US still need to discuss.

Trump said he will visit China next April, followed by another meeting with Xi in Washington or Florida.

Dennis Wilder, a former national security official and professor at Georgetown University, said the meeting between Trump and Xi provided “momentum” for continuing trade talks between the two countries.

“Both sides have not given up their trade weapons, but only agreed to stop shooting as long as both sides adhere to the agreements,” Wilder said.

3) Diplomacy = flattery

A charm offensive was on full display in Malaysia, Japan and Korea as leaders tried to accommodate Trump ahead of trade talks and other negotiations. Trump’s style of foreign relations is often rooted in personal relationships; Heads of state during their visit to Washington tried to appease Trump to have a smoother relationship with the president.

This strategy also emerged in Asia. Nearly 100 dancers in Malaysia greeted Trump at his first stop on the red carpet. In Japan, Trump received golf clubs from the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a gift and newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that she would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Dancers perform as President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, as he departs for Japan, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

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Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Trump’s arrival in South Korea was also full of excitement: YMCA, a song played at Trump’s rallies for nearly a decade, was performed on the tarmac in Busan as Air Force One landed. President Lee Jae Myung gave Trump a replica of a gold crown important to Korea’s history. Trump also received a gold medal and received Korea’s highest civilian award.

4) Trump wants to be seen as a peacemaker

Trump has renamed the Defense Department the War Department, deployed National Guard troops around several U.S. cities and in recent weeks ordered attacks on a number of boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean allegedly carrying drugs.

But during this trip to Asia, Trump wanted to emphasize his role as a peacemaker.

His first stop in Malaysia at the ASEAN summit included chairing the signing of a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand. Earlier this year, a border dispute between the two countries flared up again, and Trump helped broker a ceasefire by threatening to raise tariffs.

In his remarks in Kuala Lumpur, Trump said he was playing golf in Scotland when he got off the phone with leaders from Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, who also helped broker peace.

“You provided some really good entertainment. I could have had a lot of fun, but this is way more fun for me than anything,” Trump said.

Even before the trip, Trump claimed his administration had ended eight global conflicts. The Russian war in Ukraine was not one of them, which frustrated Trump.

But he may add another conflict to resolve to his peace list. Although he did not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his time in Asia, Trump left the door open for a future meeting and said his administration would work on tensions between North and South Korea, who have never formally ended their war.

5) Trump is making deals abroad, but Congress is still at a standstill

Despite cutting deals and making peace on the world stage, Trump found himself with a federal government still shuttered, federal workers not getting paid, and crucial programs like SNAP unfunded. The president has not shown the same interest in making deals with Democrats to reopen the government.

Instead, he returned to Washington Thursday night and mused on Truth Social about using the “nuclear option,” which he said would be to get rid of the filibuster. That would allow Senate Republicans to approve a funding deal with a simple majority, rather than a 60-vote majority that would require Democratic support.

“We are in power and if we did what we were supposed to do, it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous country that is destroying ‘SHUT DOWN,’” Trump said, adding that the filibuster was coming to an end. would ‘benefit’ from the Democrats. Democrats have refused to vote in favor of the deal to temporarily fund the government unless it includes a measure that would extend the tax credit that lowers the cost of health insurance premiums, which expires at the end of this year.