US President Donald Trump is delaying a diplomatic trip to China that had been planned for months but began unraveling as he pressured Beijing and other world powers to use military force to defend the Strait of Hormuz.
When he met with Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said he would go to China in five or six weeks instead of at the end of the month. He said he would “reschedule” his visit to Chinese President Xi Jinping, without elaborating.
“We’re rescheduling the meeting … we’re working with China. They’re fine with that,” Trump told reporters.
Trump’s visit to China was seen as an opportunity to build a fragile trade deal between the two superpowers, but it has become a tangle in his efforts to find an end to the war in Iran. After pressuring China and other nations over the weekend to send warships to access Middle East oil, Trump indicated his travel plans were up in the air, although he indicated on Tuesday that the US would not need any help after being denied by other allies.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump said he wanted to know whether Beijing would help secure the strait before he left for a summit in late March. Speaking to reporters on Monday, he said, ‘I have requested to delay the trip by about a month in view of the demands of the war.
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“I think it’s important that I’m here,” Trump said. “So we can delay a bit. Not much.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this week in Paris for a new round of talks aimed at paving the way for Trump’s trip, said any changes to the schedule would be due to logistics, not because Trump is trying to pressure Beijing.
Trump is urging other Middle Eastern oil-dependent nations to help police the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil normally flows. He singled out China, which gets 90% of its oil from the Strait, noting that the US gets the least amount. He appealed to Japan, South Korea, Britain and France. So far there have been no takers, and China has not committed.
“We strongly encourage other nations whose economies are more dependent on the Straits than ours,” Trump said Monday at the White House. “We want them to come and help us in the Straits.”
Trump is framing the war as a favor to the world, waged by the US and Israel, saying it’s time for others to do their part to protect the Straits. Some world leaders have rejected the idea outright and opposed the US’s military approach.
Trump’s trip to China has important geopolitical implications as both nations seek stability in the wake of a trade war that has led both sides to raise tariffs before easing. Trump and Xi agreed to a one-year trade deal last fall, and Trump later agreed to a state visit to Beijing. He went to China in 2017 during his first term.
China’s foreign minister said last week that the country was looking forward to a “landmark year” in relations with the US, adding that China’s attitude “has always been positive and open, and it is important that the US side meets us halfway”.
Trump’s priorities shifted as the war sent oil prices skyrocketing in a tough midterm year in which affordability was already a top concern for American voters. In addition to postponing his China trip, he has given Russia a boost by lifting sanctions on its oil and tapping the nation’s oil reserves, which he had previously objected to.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
(tags to translate)China
