Trump looks to Asia tour to reassert foreign policy role after midterm losses

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WASHINGTON: After his party’s heavy losses in the midterm elections, US President Donald Trump faces a new challenge on his upcoming Asia tour: showing that ...

WASHINGTON: After his party’s heavy losses in the midterm elections, US President Donald Trump faces a new challenge on his upcoming Asia tour: showing that he still sets US foreign policy on the world stage.

The 80-year-old Republican heads to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China facing a transformed political landscape at home, after Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Barred by the Constitution from seeking a third term in 2028, Trump may be all the more inclined to focus on the international stage in his remaining two years in office.

“After bad midterms, this is how presidents reset,” Edgard Kagan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told a news briefing.

China has described the midterms as an “internal affair” and said it is “willing to continue working” with the United States. But Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations wrote that “in private, many (Asian) leaders are relieved”, saying the Iran war had been particularly difficult for US partners in Asia, who hope Trump’s decision-making on the issue will become more predictable. Trump has said several times since the midterms that renewed fighting with Iran is unlikely.

Kurlantzick said a Democratic-controlled Congress could also take a tougher line on China, reversing what he called the administration’s “soft approach” to Beijing, which has unsettled US allies in Asia. Asian leaders are also hoping Democrats will push back on Trump’s tariffs, which have hit export-dependent economies. Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries has urged Congress to reassert its authority over trade policy, though the president has broad powers over trade and has vowed to veto legislation undoing his policies.

Trump said this week he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on Nov…

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