Trump to meet with Xi, Putin on Nov 19 in China for talks

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump will meet China’s Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (Nov 19) on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, a White House spokeswoman said.

Xi is hosting this year’s Apec summit, which is set to take place on Nov 18-19 in Shenzhen, China.

Trump has previously said such a trilateral meeting would focus on denuclearisation, an unlikely prospect given China’s reluctance to discuss limits on nuclear stockpiles with Russia and the US, both of which have much larger arsenals.

The meeting between the three also comes as Trump seeks a path forward to end the war in Ukraine, which has persisted for more than four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022.

Trump’s trip abroad comes after suffering a political setback at home after Nov 3 midterm elections in which rival Democrats swept to control of the US House and Senate.

He will meet with leaders of the Quad – India, Japan and Australia, plus the US – in Manila, where he will also sign a trade deal with Thailand and attend the Asean summit hosted by the Philippines.

THE BUSINESS TIMES INSIGHTS

Powering Asean's Future 2026

Find out how enterprises are navigating power constraints and sustainability targets

ACCESS THE INSIGHTS

The president will then travel to Shenzhen, where he is set to meet with both Putin and Xi, as well as hold his third of four planned one-on-one meetings with the Chinese leader this year. 

Trump and Xi’s meeting comes as the leaders of the world’s two largest economies navigate a number of challenges, including trade and tariffs, the race to develop artificial intelligence, as well as global flashpoints such as Taiwan and the US war on Iran. 

Trump and Xi last met in September, when the US president feted the Chinese leader at the White House with elaborate pomp, including a lavish state dinner. The two leaders in September did not announce any major breakthrough, but managed to keep ties steady following the tumult earlier in Trump’s second term, when a trade war rattled financial markets.

SEE ALSO

Nvidia fallout puts trade truce to the test as Xi welcomes Trump

Trump’s midterm loss signals short-term gain, long-term pain for China

The biggest announcement from the fall meeting was a decision to extend a trade truce until January 2027, though that was agreed to even before the state visit officially began. 

Trump during their Washington summit repeatedly cast Xi, the leader of a major geopolitical rival, as a friend, papering over more contentious issues dividing their countries, such as the Iran war and Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own. 

The Iran war, which the US and Israel launched in late February, and subsequent efforts to economically isolate Teheran have tested ties between Washington and Beijing. China was Iran’s second-largest trading partner in 2025 and a major purchaser of oil from the Islamic Republic. Chinese refiners have been forced to turn to alternative sources as Iranian crude flows have been choked off by a US naval blockade.

Trump has also repeatedly mused about the prospect of China selling arms to Iran, saying he would be disappointed if Beijing did so and adding that Xi had assured him they would not.

The two leaders are expected to meet again at the Group of 20 summit in Doral, Florida, in December. BLOOMBERG