US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea next week, the White House said on October 23, signalling an attempt at a diplomatic reset amid intensifying US-China tensions.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump will depart for Malaysia late Friday night and subsequently visit Japan and South Korea, with the bilateral meeting with Xi scheduled for “Thursday morning local time”. “On Thursday morning local time, President Trump will participate in a bilateral meeting with President Xi of the People’s Republic of China, before departing to return home,” Leavitt said.

The meeting comes after weeks of uncertainty over whether the encounter would take place. A trade dispute flared earlier this month when Beijing expanded export curbs on rare‐earth minerals, prompting the US to threaten additional tariffs. However, in remarks ahead of the meeting, Trump struck a cautiously optimistic tone: “I think we’re going to come out very well, and everyone’s going to be very happy,” he told reporters the same day.

The meeting, set for a day after the APEC CEO Summit in Busan on the southeast tip of South Korea, will be the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Xi since the start of Trump’s second presidential term. The US president will also meet South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung and Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.