President Donald Trump is in the final stretch of his marathon, 12-day swing through Asia that has taken him to Japan, South Korea and China. He arrived in Vietnam Friday, and over the weekend he travels to the Philippines for a regional security summit, before heading back to Washington Tuesday.
The often-bombastic US president toned down his rhetoric against North Korea during his diplomatic tour, stating in Seoul, South Korea, that America was not seeking "conflict or confrontation." Mr. Trump also presented a far softer side during his two days in China, the world's number-two economic power, where he arrived to much pomp and circumstance. As President Xi asserts his power within China and around the world, is President Trump's new welcoming approach to Beijing a diplomatic masterstroke or something less ?
Weston Konishi joins us in Studio A. He’s a Senior Fellow at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Also joining the conversation is Matthew Pennington. He reports from Washington on US-Asian affairs for the Associated Press, and formerly served as the AP’s correspondent in Southeast Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He joins us from the AP's Washington studios.
