Trump’s trip to meet Xi Jinping in China rescheduled for May due to Iran war | Donald Trump
Donald Trump will meet Xi Jinping in May during the US president’s first visit to China, which has been postponed and closely watched due to the Iran war.
Trump was originally scheduled to travel next week but will now visit Beijing on May 14 and 15, he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. Trump said he would host the Chinese leader on a reciprocal visit to Washington later this year.
“Our representatives are finalizing preparations for these Historic Visits. I look forward to spending time with President Xi at what I am sure will be a Monumental Event,” Trump wrote.
The Chinese embassy said no information was provided about the visit. Beijing usually releases details of Xi’s schedule only a few days in advance.
The long-planned trip and Washington’s broader effort to reset relations in the Asia-Pacific region have been repeatedly marred by incidents.
In February, the Supreme Court restricted the U.S. president’s authority to impose tariffs; this was a source of leverage in Trump’s negotiations with the United States’ third largest trading partner.
Trump’s launch of a joint military operation with Israel against Iran on February 28 led to a new point of tension with Beijing, Tehran’s main oil buyer.
Trump’s last visit to China in 2017 was the last visit by a US president. Trump’s visit in May will be the two leaders’ first face-to-face meetings since an October meeting in South Korea, where they agreed to a trade truce.
The two-day trip will combine the ostentatious pomp and circumstance that has become a feature of Trump’s foreign trips with the dogged diplomacy.
While the two sides are likely to strike goodwill agreements on agriculture and aircraft parts trade in Beijing, they are also expected to discuss areas of deep tension, such as Taiwan, where little progress is expected.
Trump significantly increased US arms sales to Taiwan during his second term in office. These moves angered Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory.
It is unclear whether the war with Iran, which has shaken the global economy, will be resolved until the Xi-Trump meeting.
Trump has sought support from the world’s major oil consumers, including China, to counter Iran’s efforts to close the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s request for aid so far has been largely rejected. China, which imports the most oil in the world with approximately 12 million barrels per day in the first two months of 2026, did not directly respond to this demand.
Asked Wednesday whether the war would be over in time for the trip to China, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt responded: “We’ve always estimated about four to six weeks. So you can do the math on that.”
Leavitt also said Trump and Xi talked about rescheduling the trip and that Xi understood the reasons for doing so. “President Xi understands that it is very important for the president to be here right now during these combat operations,” he said.
