WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump is postponing a planned diplomatic trip to China, citing ongoing developments tied to the conflict with Iran and growing tensions over security in the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking Tuesday during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Trump said he now expects to travel to Beijing in “five or six weeks,” pushing back a visit that had been planned for later this month.
“We’re resetting the meeting,” Trump said, without providing additional details.
The delay comes as the Trump administration presses global powers to take a more active role in securing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply typically passes.
Trump has urged countries that rely heavily on Middle Eastern oil — including China, Japan, South Korea, Britain, and France — to contribute naval support to protect shipping routes. So far, no country has publicly committed to joining such an effort.
“We strongly encourage other nations whose economies depend on the strait far more than ours,” Trump said earlier this week. “We want them to come and help us.”
Trump has suggested the United States and Israel are bearing the burden of stabilizing the region and indicated it is time for other countries to contribute.
At the same time, the president acknowledged that the U.S. could proceed without additional support after allies declined to participate.
China has been a particular focus of the administration’s efforts. Trump noted that Beijing depends heavily on oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States relies far less on the route.
In a Sunday interview with the Financial Times, Trump said he wanted to know whether Beijing would help secure the strait before he departed for the late-March summit.
On Monday, he told reporters he requested to delay the trip in part due to the demands of the war.
“I think it’s important that I be here,” Trump said. “So it could be that we delay a little bit. Not much.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris this week, said any changes to the schedule were logistical and not intended as pressure on Beijing.
The conflict in the Middle East has already begun to affect global markets, with oil prices rising sharply as concerns grow over potential disruptions to supply routes.
Trump’s trip to China was seen as a key opportunity to build on a fragile trade truce between the United States and China following a period of escalating tariffs.
Both presidents agreed last year to ease trade tensions, and the upcoming visit had been expected to reinforce that agreement.
Editor’s Note: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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