President Trump said after their meeting in Busan, South Korea, that he and Xi Jinping of China had agreed to an economic truce, walking back some of the tariffs and retaliatory measures that had roiled the world economy.Credit...Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times
Katie Rogers
Katie Rogers and Erica Green are White House correspondents following the president’s travels in Asia.
Ahead of the high-stakes meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping of China on Thursday, world leaders were hoping for news of an economic truce that could help stabilize the global economy. They got it.
They got something extra, as well: intensified concerns about whether the world is entering a new era of nuclear weapons proliferation among global powers.
After a 90-minute face to face meeting in South Korea, Mr. Trump announced that the two leaders had sharply de-escalated their trade standoff, agreeing, in essence, on a yearlong cease-fire that would roll back tit-for-tat measures including steep tariffs and shutting off access to rare earth metals.
The meeting was the most anticipated and consequential event of Mr. Trump’s nearly weeklong tour through Asia, where he engaged in a series of trade and security agreements with other countries in the region, many of them geared toward containing Beijing.
“I guess on the scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Mr. Trump said aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington.
The agreement was a win for the world economy, but was brokered under the shadow of a new and sudden amplification of nuclear threats between global powers.
Just minutes before he landed in Busan, South Korea, to meet with Mr. Xi, Mr. Trump announced on social media that the United States would immediately restart nuclear weapons testing after a lull of more than 30 years. The announcement came after Russia announced that it had also conducted tests of a nuclear-capable missile and sea drone this week.
One of the helicopters in the presidential transport fleet, known as Marine One, arriving at the international airport in Busan.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” he wrote, saying the process would begin immediately.
Mr. Trump did not provide any further details about the decision. But with his message, Mr. Trump seemed to be ratcheting up pressure as he prepared to meet with the leader with the world’s second- largest economy and third-largest nuclear arsenal.
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