Here is my take on the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting on @CNN this morning.

Zooming out a bit, this Administration came in talking about the need to focus on Asia, including pulling resources from other parts of the world to do so. But this is the next week will mark the first time that Trump has gone to the region and focused his attention on Asia Pacific allies and the troubled relationship with China.

In the past decade, there have usually been two lines of effort for such trips: shoring up allies and working the competitive/confrontational relationships with China. Critics have noted that this Administration, with its focus on “reciprocal tariffs,” has fallen short on the former. Instead of reassuring allies and reinforcing U.S. influence in the region, Trump will need to smooth relationships shaken by huge tariffs (most of Southeast Asia, including our close ally, the Philippines) now face a 19% tariff, not counting sectoral tariffs. Without much leverage, the leaders in Southeast Asia will be polite and still work on lowering barriers to the U.S. market, but tensions linger under the surface, no doubt.

That said, the President’s Asia week-plus is off to a good start, marked by a positive meeting with Australian PM Albanese earlier this week and an important critical mineral deal. I expect the meeting with Japan’s freshly selected Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, during a three-day visit to Japan starting Monday, will go very well. She is pushing to boost Japan’s defense spending and is the protege of President Trump’s favorite PM, Shinzo Abe.

Next up will be South Korea, starting with that bilateral with President Xi on Thursday, and then APEC. The bilateral with South Korea’s President Lee will include a finalized trade agreement. But Trump also needs to be sensitive to public sentiment in the wake of what South Koreans see as humiliating treatment of their citizens in the ICE raid on the Hyundai plant in Georgia earlier this month.