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What to know today
- TRUMP IN ASIA: President Donald Trump arrived in South Korea, where he will have a highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It's the last stop on his three-country tour of Asia.
- GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: The Senate failed for the 13th time to advance a bill to reopen the government as the shutdown continues into its 28th day. The motion to take up the House-passed short-term spending bill required 60 votes for approval and lacked support from most Democrats.
- SHUTDOWN RIPPLE EFFECTS: Democratic leaders from more than two dozen states are suing the Agriculture Department over next weekend’s expected suspension of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, because of the shutdown. Meanwhile, air traffic controllers missed their first paycheck today despite being required by law to show up for work during a funding lapse.
China confirms Trump-Xi meeting
China has confirmed that President Xi Jinping will meet with Trump tomorrow in the South Korean city of Busan.
The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies will meet to “exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
This will be the first face-to-face meeting of the two leaders since Trump returned to office in January. They are expected to talk about tariffs, rare earth export controls, and the issue of Taiwan.
Trump says he won't meet with Kim Jong Un
Trump said a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not going to take place on this trip.
Still, he noted the two Koreas are still technically at war, since their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
“We will see what we can do to get that all straightened out,” he said.
Trump becomes first U.S. president to receive South Korea's highest order
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung awared Trump with the country’s highest decoration, the Grand Order of Mugunghwa.
Trump was told through a translator that he was the first U.S. president to receive the award, which has a laurel leaf design that symbolizes prosperity.
“It’s a great honor,” Trump said. “I’d like to wear it right now,” he added.
Trump was also gifted a replica of the golden Cheonmachong crown, a 1,500-year-old artifact that was found in a tomb in Gyeongju and is among the heaviest gold crowns ever found.
'We’re entering a new era of trade,' Trump says
Trump told the APEC CEOs luncheon that a new era of trade was on the horizon during which deals would have to be “good for everybody.”
“We’re entering a new era of trade that truly works for both sides,” Trump said. “Deals have to be good for everybody. I’ve heard that all the time, and I never really believed it.”
“The best deals are deals that work for everybody, especially when you’re talking about nations,” he added.
“When you’re talking about nations, it really is a little bit different than [when] you’re doing a business deal, and you want to just rip their hearts out.”
Shipbuilding is coming back to the U.S., Trump says
Trump wants more ships to be built in the U.S. as he seeks to counter China’s growing naval might, for which he is now turning to South Korea.
“During World War II, we produced a ship a day. Can you believe it? You know, tankers and freighters,” he said in his remarks at the APEC CEOs luncheon. “Today, we’re not really building ships,” he added.
Trump alluded in his remarks to Hanwha Ocean, the South Korean shipbuilding giant that acquired the Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania last year. “We’re going to start, and we’re going to have a very thriving, very thriving shipbuilding industry,” he said.
He said the industry, which past presidents “allowed” to “go away,” will be brought back “very, very powerfully.”
Trump wraps up his remarks
Trump concluded his remarks to the APEC CEOs luncheon by saying the United States and its allies were “creating a future of dignity and security, prosperity and pride.”
“Together we will build a future of strong, independent nations on both sides of the vast ocean — joined by our common interests, united by common values and reaching constantly toward a richer, safer and more peaceful Pacific,” he said.
Trump now heads to the Gyeongju National Museum, where he will have a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
'Economic security is national security,' Trump says
Trump is now making keynote remarks at a CEOs luncheon at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea. He recalled that he last addressed the event in 2017, when, he said, he first laid out the idea that “economic security is national security.”
“I made the case that the global trading system was broken and in urgent need of reform, it had to be fixed,” he said. “The system had been exploited by countries that broke the rules at the expense of countries that followed the rules to a T.”
Trump said he had “asked the nations of APEC to be our partners in making the system fairer and more sustainable for us and we all worked together, the APEC nations.”
Eight years later, he said, “I’m back here in Asia, and I’m pleased to say that the positive vision for revolutionary reform I laid out — which seems like a long time ago — is now a reality.”
Trump says he's 'not sure' if he and Xi will talk about Taiwan
Trump said he was “not sure” whether the subject of Taiwan will come up during his expected meeting this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, amid concerns that Trump could shift long-standing U.S. policy on the Beijing-claimed island democracy.
Some of Trump’s aides are worried that Trump, who is pushing to reach a sweeping trade deal with China, could say the United States “opposes” independence for Taiwan rather than “not supporting” it, four people with knowledge of the discussions told NBC News. Though it’s a subtle shift in language, it would be a major victory for Xi.
“I don’t know that we’ll even speak about Taiwan,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route from Japan to South Korea. “I’m not sure. I mean, he may want to ask about it. There’s not that much to ask about it. Taiwan is Taiwan.”
He went on to talk about U.S. efforts to produce its own semiconductors, which has become a strategic concern as the global supply could be disrupted if Taiwan, which makes most of the world’s advanced chips, were to come under Chinese control.
Trump acknowledges the Constitution prohibits him from serving a third term
Trump acknowledged that the law prohibits him from seeking a third term in office, a day after he did not rule out the possibility in discussing the idea.
“If you read it, it’s pretty clear. I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad, but we have a lot of great people,” Trump, who has mused about the possibility of serving a third term, told reporters on Air Force One en route to South Korea.
His comments came hours after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he did not “see the path” for Trump to serve another term.
Trump lands in South Korea
Air Force One touched down at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, around 11:30 a.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Tuesday ET), about 90 minutes after it left Japan.
He was greeted by a military band that played “Hail to the Chief” and an honor guard that stood alongside a red carpet.
After artillery pieces fired a 21-gun salute, the band started playing the song “YMCA,” which is a frequent feature of Trump events.
Trump then boarded Marine One for the short flight to the city of Gyeongju, where South Korea is hosting the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
