Trump to Asia: Unite on North Korea, but Go It Alone on Trade<br />that For Trump to come with an ‘America First’ agenda leaves Asian leaders in the lurch.<br />11, 2017<br />DANANG, Vietnam — President Trump has issued two starkly contradictory calls on his trip to Asia this past week: The nations of the world must rally behind the United States to confront the nuclear threat from North Korea,<br />but they should expect America to go its own way on trade.<br />"There is no place like home," he told Pacific Rim leaders, warning them that the United States would never again sign a regionwide trade agreement.<br />But if Mr. Trump’s stops in Northeast Asia were aimed at building a coalition against North Korea, his swing through Southeast Asia seemed calculated to remind people<br />that he has little use for the post-World War II concept of the United States as global leader.<br />They must have been one of the beneficiaries." Administration officials framed the speech as a chance for Mr. Trump to promote a "free and open Indo-Pacific," which the White House has embraced as its answer to Mr. Obama’s "Asia pivot."<br />But the president put little meat on the bones, emphasizing the sovereignty and independence of nations over common interests or universal rights.<br />Mr. Sifton said that When he talks about trade in those terms, it suggests<br />that he doesn’t hold the multilateral legal system in very high regard — and that’s frightening.<br />bring progress, and those who close down will inevitably lag behind." In the absence of an alternative sales<br />pitch from the United States, experts said, China will inevitably make further gains. that Opening up will<br />Mr. Trump’s encounters with leaders have been harmonious — even leaders, like President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, with whom he has differences.
