On Friday, President Trump leaves Washington for a 12-day journey to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, with a brief stop first in Hawaii. He is scheduled to return to the U.S. on Nov. 14. Trump's goals, according to his advisers, are to show a hard line on North Korea's nuclear threat and what he views as Asia's unfair trade practices with the U.S., and signal his commitment to open Asian seas in the face of Chinese maritime aggression.
This will be the longest trip a U.S. president has taken to Asia since George H.W. Bush visited in late 1991 and early 1992, a visit mostly remembered for Bush getting sick and throwing up on Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa at a Japanese state dinner, Reuters notes. When Trump arrives in Japan on Sunday, he will join Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a round of golf, The Japan Times reports, then in the evening, go out to a dinner including "beefsteak, a favorite of the U.S. leader, at a high-end Tokyo restaurant" chosen by Abe himself. Presumably, well-done Wagyu beef with ketchup will sit better with Trump's digestive system than whatever Bush ate.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Will Japan’s first female prime minister defy sumo’s ban on women?Under the Radar Sanae Takaichi must decide whether to break with centuries of tradition and step into the ring to present the trophy
-
Political cartoons for November 16Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include presidential pardons, the Lincoln penny, and more
-
The vast horizons of the Puna de AtacamaThe Week Recommends The ‘dramatic and surreal’ landscape features volcanoes, fumaroles and salt flats
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
-
Trump pardons 2020 fake electors, other GOP alliesSpeed Read The president pardoned Rudy Giuliani and more who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
