Trump heads for Asia and Xi talks, as Kim speculation swirls

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. (Courtesy: AP file photo)

US President Donald Trump leaves on Friday for Asia and high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping -- as Washington played down speculation that he could meet North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Trump is set to meet Xi in South Korea on the last day of his trip, aiming for a "deal on everything" to end a bitter trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

The 79-year-old will also visit Malaysia and Japan on his first Asian trip since he returned to the White House in January in a blaze of tariffs and geopolitical deal-making.

A senior US official said on Friday that Trump would "deliver for the American people in one of the most economically vibrant regions of the world, signing a series of economic agreements."

Talk about a possible meeting with Kim while Trump is in South Korea for a regional summit mounted after Seoul's reunification minister said there was a "considerable" chance.

But the US official said it was "not on the schedule," despite both leaders having said they would like to rekindle the unlikely relationship they fostered during Trump's first term.

Peace and trade deals
His first stop will be Malaysia, where he arrives on Sunday, for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit -- a meeting Trump skipped several times in his first term.

Trump is set to ink a trade deal with Malaysia, but more importantly he will oversee the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia, as he continues his quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva may also meet Trump on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties after months of bad blood, officials from both countries told AFP.

Trump's next stop will be Tokyo, where he arrives on Monday. He will meet conservative Sanae Takaichi, named this week as Japan's first woman prime minister, on Tuesday.

Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are "ripping off the United States."

Trump and Xi  

But the highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due to land in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Trump will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an APEC lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in the city of Gyeongju.

On Thursday, Trump will meet Xi for the first time since his return to office.

Global markets will be watching closely to see if the two men can halt the trade war sparked by Trump's sweeping tariffs earlier this year, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing's rare earth curbs.

Trump initially threatened to cancel the meeting and imposed fresh tariffs over the critical minerals row, before saying he would go ahead after all.

"The president is most interested in discussing the trade and economic relationship," another senior US official said.

Trump himself said on Thursday that the first topic on the agenda would be fentanyl, as he boosts pressure on Beijing to curb drug trafficking and cracks down on Latin American drug cartels.

Trump's former advisor Steve Bannon told Politico the Xi talks were a risky move by the US leader given the huge implications if the talks collapse, calling it a "throw of the iron dice."

But analysts warned not to expect any breakthroughs.

"The meeting will be a data point along an existing continuum rather than an inflection point in the relationship," said Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.