President Donald Trump will address his just-concluded five-country swing through Asia on his first day back at the White House on Wednesday.
Trump is scheduled to speak about his trip in remarks from the White House Diplomatic Reception Room at 3:30 p.m. He had promised to deliver remarks either Wednesday or Thursday to tout the success of his trip.
Trump returned Tuesday night from his tour of Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines where he focused on trade and North Korea’s ongoing development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
While Trump has already touted the trip as an overwhelming success, he capped off his trip with few immediate, concrete achievements on either trade or North Korea.
“Very proud of it from a standpoint of security and safety, military — very proud — and trade,” Trump told reporters on his flight back to the US. “You will see numbers that you won’t believe over the years. Because over a period of years, they will be treating us much differently than they have in the past.”
Trump was able to help secure the release of three UCLA basketball players, appealing directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping to look into the matter.
But Trump on Wednesday morning was focused on the criticism he has faced from some over his warm embrace of Xi, whom Trump praised in Beijing and absolved of any wrongdoing for unfair trading practices that Trump has said have hurt the US.
“The failing @nytimes hates the fact that I have developed a great relationship with World leaders like Xi Jinping, President of China,” Trump tweeted. “They should realize that these relationships are a good thing, not a bad thing. The U.S. is being respected again. Watch Trade!”