Trump delays China trip as Iran war comes into focus: ‘They were fine with it’ – National
US President Donald Trump is postponing a trip to China that had been planned for months, but it began to deteriorate as he pressured Beijing and other countries to use military force to protect the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said on Tuesday when he met with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office that he would go to China in five or six weeks instead of at the end of the month. He said he would be “rescheduling” his trip with Chinese President Xi Jinping, without elaborating.
“We’re rescheduling the meeting … we’re working with China. They’ve been fine with it,” Trump told reporters.
Trump’s visit to China is seen as an opportunity to build on the fragile trade deal between the two superpowers, but it has been joined in his efforts to find an end to the Iran war. Shortly after pressuring China and other nations to send warships to protect Middle East oil over the weekend, Trump indicated that his plans to travel were up in the air, although he reiterated on Tuesday that the US did not need the help after opposition from some allies.
In an interview on Sunday with the Financial Times, Trump said he wants to know whether Beijing will help prevent the virus before he goes to the summit at the end of March. On Monday, he told reporters that he had asked to postpone the trip for almost a month due to the demands of the war.
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“I think it’s important that I’m here,” Trump said. “And we might be a little late. Not too much.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris this week for a new round of talks aimed at paving the way for Trump’s trip, said any changes to the plan would be for transportation, not because Trump was trying to pressure Beijing.
Trump is urging other Middle Eastern oil-dependent countries to help police the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil trade flows. He singled out China, noting that it gets about 90% of its oil from the crisis and the US gets a small amount. He also applied in Japan, South Korea, Britain and France. There have been no takers so far, and China has been noncommittal.
“We are encouraging other nations whose economies are more dependent on a more difficult situation than ours,” Trump said at the White House on Monday. “We want them to come and help us in this problem.”
Trump is framing the war as a global favor by the US and Israel, saying now is the time for others to do their part to protect the tide. Some world leaders have outright rejected the idea and opposed the US military approach.
Trump’s trip to China has major political implications as the two countries seek stability after a trade war that led to tariff increases before both sides lowered them. Trump and Xi agreed on a one-year trade deal last year, with Trump later agreeing to a state visit to Beijing. He also went to China in 2017, his first time.
China’s foreign minister said last week that the country is looking forward to a “historic year” in its relations with the US. He added that China’s attitude “has always been positive and open, and what is important is that the US side meets us in the middle.”
Trump’s priorities have shifted as the war sends oil prices soaring amid a tough mid-year campaign in which affordability has long been a major issue for American voters. Besides postponing his China trip, he also gave Russia a boost by lifting sanctions on its oil, and tapping into the country’s oil reserves, something he had previously opposed.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
