Trump Returns to China Under the Shadow of Iran

The president returns nearly a decade after his first visit, needing assistance from the Chinese leader to end the U.S. war in the Middle East.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump

President Donald Trump’s first visit to China came months into his first term in office. He makes a return trip this week to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Andy Wong/AP

BEIJING — President Donald Trump will land in China this week to familiarly regal pomp and radically changed geopolitics relative to his last visit in 2017.

Just nine months after taking the oath of office for the first time, Trump came to Beijing seeking to leverage his growing relationship with his Chinese counterpart and the looming threat of tariffs to force concessions.

Now, Trump will meet with President Xi Jinping as a wartime president looking for help to end the conflict in Iran from a country that purchases Iran’s sanctioned oil and has indirectly sent it weapons.