(Bloomberg) — After months of tariff threats and browbeating over defense spending, America’s allies in Asia had plenty of reason to be wary of President Donald Trump. But in the end, he used a three-nation tour of the region to deliver a clear message: The U.S. still has your back.
Trump said the US was “committed” to South Korea, addressed some of his concerns about a $350 billion investment pledge and approved his request for nuclear-powered submarines. He told new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that she could ask him for help “with anything.” And he avoided weakening the US commitment to Taiwan at a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, while his defense chief, Pete Hegseth, raised concerns about Beijing’s naval activities around the island democracy.
The US president has also sought to mend relations with Southeast Asian countries that have leaned closer to Beijing as Trump has focused on their engines of economic growth — signing trade deals with Cambodia and Malaysia and framework agreements with Thailand and Vietnam. Traveling alone in the region, Hegseth signed a 10-year defense deal with India and announced that military exercises with Cambodia would resume for the first time in eight years.
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“It’s much better than I expected – trust, friendship and determination to improve relations,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said of his discussions with Trump, speaking to Bloomberg while displaying a presidential coin donated by the US leader.
Yet nations across the Asia-Pacific still have to reckon with the reality of Trump 2.0, characterized by much more costly access to the US market and the unpredictability inherent in his approach to international relations. And China’s leaders also marked milestones of their own last week.
Xi made his first visit to South Korea in 11 years, had his first formal meeting with a Canadian leader since 2017 and met Japan’s new conservative prime minister. China’s president has called for stable supply chains and deeper economic integration with the region, while his premier, Li Qiang, has expanded a trade pact with Southeast Asian countries already heavily dependent on the world’s second-largest economy.
“The Americans need to show that they are putting down some hostility and trying to build constructive relations if they want to please their audience in Southeast Asia,” said Bill Hayton, a fellow in the Asia-Pacific program at London-based research group Chatham House, who has written several books on Asia.
The sometimes brash US president has leaned toward glamour, pomp and protocol on his swing through Asia.
In Malaysia, where he attended an assembly of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he briefly danced with local artists and waved the US and Malaysian flags to the delight of onlookers. In Japan, he made a joint visit with Takaichi on an American aircraft carrier, where the country’s first female leader pumped her fist in the air to cheering troops. In South Korea, he put aside recent tensions with Canada to have a “very nice conversation” with Prime Minister Mark Carney. And at the height of his meeting with Xi, he refrained from his usual practice of meeting reporters and turned to the store in question.
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Still, Trump’s attention to the region does not represent a “full-spectrum engagement,” Hayton added. “It cannot be compared to what the Chinese side is offering.
The American president also did not stay at the key parts of the two summits. He left Malaysia ahead of a key regional discussion and then flew out of South Korea ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting on Friday and Saturday, which Xi attended.
Thursday’s meeting with Xi came as the US and China battled over tariffs and export restrictions, with Beijing imposing sweeping controls on the sale of rare-earth materials vital to manufacturers around the world in retaliation for a move by the US Commerce Department to extend its own restrictions on semiconductor equipment.
The result: A one-year truce that gave both sides time to further reduce their interdependence in strategic areas. While not all issues are resolved, Trump’s plan to visit China in April at Xi’s invitation provides some impetus to maintain a stable relationship.
At Xi’s meeting, China hawks in Washington worried that Trump might go even further in loosening national security restrictions, including approving the sale of Nvidia Corp’s most powerful chips. and weakening Beijing’s claimed support for Taiwan. But neither happened.
Among the surprise developments of the week was a trade deal struck by Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which seemed unlikely just days ago given Korea’s concerns over the details of a $350 billion investment pledge. But the deal capped South Korea’s annual investment at $20 billion, addressing Seoul’s concerns about destabilizing the foreign exchange market. And as a bonus, Trump gave the green light to South Korea’s long-term goal of building a nuclear-powered submarine.
There was a heavy dose of flattery to help facilitate Trump’s tour of Asia. He was given a golden golf ball and putter used by the late Shinzo Abe in Japan, while South Korea gave him a golden crown. Given the opportunity to preside over a peace ceremony between Thailand and Cambodia after the recent border conflict, Takaichi later told Trump she was joining other global leaders in nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“I think President Trump wants to be a man of peace,” Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said in an interview. “He wants to promote peace and we welcome that.”
After returning to the US, Trump touted the strength of relations with Asian countries in a post on social media. “Great trade deals were made, now there are long-term relationships,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Hegseth echoed that sentiment at a regional defense meeting in Malaysia, telling reporters: “We’ve never been away and we’re not going anywhere.”
But not everything went smoothly. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stayed away from the Asean summit to avoid meeting the US president, Bloomberg reported. Trump then joked on Wednesday that Modi was “the nicest looking guy” who was also a “killer” eager to fight, threatening to further inflame relations with a nation the US had previously courted as a counterweight to China.
“U.S. foreign policy under Trump has been unorthodox,” said Bonnie Glaser, executive director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. “And I don’t think Trump’s recent tour of Asia indicates a shift to a more traditional approach.”
— With help from Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Sakura Murakami, Soo-Hyang Choi and Kok Leong Chan.
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