President Donald Trump said on Monday that the U.S. requested that his trip to China be delayed by “a month or so,” citing the war in Iran as a reason.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he didn’t know whether he still planned to travel to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month as previously scheduled.
“I’d love to, but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I feel. And so we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so,” Trump said.
“It’s very simple. We’ve got a war going on. I think it’s important that I be here, so it could be that we delay a little bit, not much,” he added.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Trump’s comments.
The Trump administration began to cast doubt on the trip earlier in the day, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying it might not take place as previously scheduled. Bessent said any delay was not a tactic to pressure Beijing to get involved with the Strait of Hormuz.
Bessent appeared to be referencing an article by the Financial Times, which reported that Trump said in an interview with the publication that he wanted China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that he wanted to know before the planned summit.
The Strait of Hormuz, a major trade route through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes, is essentially closed after several ships came under attack after the start of the war. Iran has threatened to strike ships on the route, which borders its coast, creating disarray in global markets.
Trump, who said last week that the U.S. had destroyed 28 ships capable of laying mines, wants other countries to help reopen the shipping channel. In a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday, Trump said several countries would help secure the strait, and in a post on Truth Social he listed China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and “others” among the countries he hoped would lend their help.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he expected China would be a “constructive partner.” But a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington told CNN that China wanted hostilities to cease, without addressing Trump’s request.
China, the world’s largest energy importer, which counts Iran as an ally, has condemned the U.S. and Israel’s strikes on Iran, saying they are “in violation of international law,” and has defended Iran’s sovereignty.
China gets about half of its oil from the Middle East, meaning a blocked Strait could seriously impact the country’s economy. The Associated Press reported last week that ships passing through the strait have begun identifying themselves as linked to China to avoid being attacked. Bessent also said that some ships are getting through the strait successfully, including Chinese ships.