The US president will delay his March 31-April 2 trip to China to focus on the escalating war against Iran.
Published on 16 March 2026
United States President Donald Trump said he was trying to delay a much-anticipated trip to China in early April by about a month because of the US-Israel war over Iran.
“We requested that it be delayed a month or so,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
“There are no tricks to it,” he said. “It’s very simple. We have a war going on. I think it’s important that I’m here.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s requested delay in his scheduled March 31-April 2 trip to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping underscores how the Iran war has upended his foreign policy agenda.
That risks increasing tensions between Washington and Beijing, as the war on Iran joins a spectrum of issues that divide trade and Taiwan as the world’s two largest economies.
“The president is looking forward to visiting China,” White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters.
“Dates can be moved. As Commander-in-Chief, his first priority right now is to ensure the continued success of this Operation Epic Fury. So we will post you on the dates as soon as possible.”
Tensions have risen in the Middle East since the US and Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran on February 28, killing more than 1,200 people, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On Sunday, Trump told The Financial Times that the meeting could be postponed if China does not help unblock the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran says is closed to US and Israeli-aligned shipping.
Trump has called on several countries, including China, to help ships safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries a fifth of the world’s oil. Trump’s request has so far been largely rejected. China, which imported about 12 million barrels of oil per day in the first two months of 2026, the most in the world, did not directly respond to his plea.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said on Monday that Trump’s trip may have to be delayed because of war effort coordination, not because China has not responded to Trump’s request or because of any trade disagreements.
“The president wants to stay in DC to coordinate the war effort,” Besant said. “It is not advisable to travel abroad at such a time.”
Besant made the comments from Paris, where he traveled for trade talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Laifung.
In talks that began Sunday, the Chinese showed openness to potential additional purchases of US farm goods, including chicken, beef and non-soybean row crops, a source said before the second day of the meeting.
They discussed the flow of rare earth minerals, largely controlled by China, and new ways of managing trade and investment between the countries.
(tags to translate)Economy
