President Trump is speaking to reporters at the close of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. Chinese state media reported Saturday Mr. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to restart trade talks after meeting at the summit.
Mr. Trump in recent days has swung from optimism toward the meeting and threatening further escalation – some of it tempered from previous threats, including imposing tariffs on roughly $300 billion in imported Chinese goods that aren’t already subject to levies the White House has imposed over the past year. The U.S. imports roughly $600 billion in goods from China annually.
“My Plan B is that if we don’t make a deal, I will tariff. And maybe not at 25% but maybe at 10%,” Mr. Trump told Fox Business Network on Wednesday before leaving for the summit.
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Mr. Trump imposed an increase to 25% on $200 billion in imported Chinese goods after talks disintegrated earlier this year, just as Wall Street was betting an agreement was close.
Also on Saturday, Mr. Trump tweeted what he called a “feeler” to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un for a meeting. Mr. Trump will be traveling Saturday to South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in.
Abe officially closes out G20 summit
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe closed out the G20 summit, and Saudi Arabia will take over the presidency next year. Abe said at the summit, they had “Data Free Flow With Trust” (DFFT), reached agreement on a vision of eliminating marine plastics litter , and built momentum on the empowerment of women.
Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who met with Mr. Trump earlier on Saturday, said under Saudi Arabia’s presidency they will “work towards inclusiveness and fairness to realize prosperity, youth and women empowerment,” and encourage entrepreneurs and small businesses. He said next year’s G20 will also address climate change and attempt to pursue pragmatic solutions, as well as helping the least developed countries with infrastructure, access to energy and water sources, and investment in human capital.
North Korea responds to Trump invitation
North Korea’s government released a statement calling Mr. Trump’s invitation a “very interesting suggestion” but said they hadn’t received a official proposal.
Trump had threatened earlier “I will tariff” if no deal with China
Ahead of Saturday’s meetings, Mr. Trump swung from optimism toward the meeting and threatening further escalation – some of it tempered from previous threats, including imposing tariffs on roughly $300 billion in imported Chinese goods that aren’t already subject to levies the White House has imposed over the past year. The U.S. imports roughly $600 billion in goods from China annually.
“My Plan B is that if we don’t make a deal, I will tariff. And maybe not at 25% but maybe at 10%,” Mr. Trump told Fox Business Network on Wednesday before leaving for the summit. Larry Kudlow, Mr. Trump’s top economic adviser, on Thursday told CBNC there are “no preconditions” set ahead of the meeting, adding the White House could move ahead with the new tariffs.
Mr. Trump imposed an increase to 25% on $200 billion in imported Chinese goods after talks disintegrated earlier this year, just as Wall Street was betting an agreement was close.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said earlier this week that China intends to defend itself against such U.S. moves to penalize it over trade friction. Such threats “won’t work on us because the Chinese people don’t believe in heresy and are not afraid of pressure,” the spokesman told the Associated Press.
— Rachel Layne
Trump: U.S. expected to “quadruple” business with Turkey
Mr. Trump said after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he expected business with the country “quadruple.” Erdogan added they are working toward fulfilling a goal of a $75 billion trade volume–Mr. Trump later added that he thinks it will be “well over $100 billion soon.”
When asked if the U.S. would impose sanctions on for purchasing the S-400 missile system from Russia, Mr. Trump said it was a “complicated situation.”
The White House’s summation of the meeting between Mr. Trump and Erdogan said the president “expressed concern” about the purchase.
Trump tweets invitation to Kim Jong Un
Mr. Trump on Friday tweeted an invitation to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to come to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in. “While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Later, Mr. Trump told reporters that “I put out a feeler because I don’t know where he is right now, he may not even be in North Korea.”
“He sent me a very beautiful birthday card and I just–what I did is–and I guess he got my return letter, because it’s in the newspaper, it’s him reading the return letter,” Mr. Trump said. “But I just put out–I just thought of it this morning. We’ll be at the area, we may go to the DMZ, or the border as they call it.”
Mr. Trump’s summit with Kim in Vietnam earlier this year collapsed without an agreementf or denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. South Korea’s government said earlier Friday that North Korea is ready for talks with the U.S.
Earlier Friday, the U.S. Special Representative on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, would not answer a question from CBS News’ Weijia Jiang about whether there would be a third summit with North Korea.
Trump calls Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman a “friend of mine”
Mr. Trump told reporters Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is a “friend of mine.” Mr. Trump called bin Salman “a man who has really done things in the last 5 years in terms of opening of Saudi Arabia.”
Mr. Trump did not answer questions about Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. An independent U.N. human rights expert investigating Khashoggi’s death said earlier this month there is “credible evidence” linking bin Salman’s to the murder. Bin Salman has denied any involvement.
Mr. Trump on Saturday praised bin Salman for doing a “speculator job” and said they’ve had meetings on “trade, and economic development and on the military.”
“As you know, Saudi Arabia is a big purchaser of American products of American products and especially of America military equipment,” Mr. Trump said. “We make the best in the world by far. And we appreciate that they do. They create at least a million jobs are created by the purchases made by Saudi Arabia, so we’re very happy to be with you. Great honor. Thank you all very much for being here.”
According to the White House, the pair had a “productive meeting” where they discussed “Saudi Arabia’s critical role in ensuring stability in the Middle East and global oil markets, the growing threat from Iran, increased trade and investments between the two countries, and the importance of human rights issues.”
Trump tells Putin “don’t interfere in the election”
Before a closed-door meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Mr. Trump and Putin sat together in front of journalists for a photo opportunity. One of the reporters asked Mr. Trump if he would press the Russian leader to ensure his country does not interfere again in the U.S. democratic process.
“Of course I will,” said Mr. Trump with a smirk, before pointing in Putin’s direction and saying, “don’t interfere in the election.” It was unclear whether Mr. Trump followed his sardonic response in front of the cameras with a more serious warning to the Russian leader behind closed doors. The White House did not respond to an inquiry about whether the president’s warning was sincere.
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russian government carried out an orchestrated campaign aimed at influencing the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. Mr. Trump acknowledged that interference, but rejected the intel communities’ findings that the Russians “developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump,” and tried to help him.
