Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping could be delayed for logistical reasons during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Trump suggested on Sunday that the summit could be delayed as the U.S. pressures China to help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Bessent walked those comments back on Monday, arguing the summit would be delayed if Trump chooses to stay in Washington to coordinate the war effort in Iran.
“If the meetings are delayed, it wouldn’t be delayed because the president demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz,” Bessent said in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in Paris. “If the meeting, for some reason, is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics.”
The Trump-Xi meeting is scheduled to take place in China as the U.S. president carries out an assault on Iran that has largely shuttered the Strait of Hormuz and sent global oil prices soaring. The strait carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil, and has remained largely impassible during the war.
Trump’s visit, scheduled for March 31-April 2, would be the first for a U.S. president since he went to the country in 2017. The president met with Xi in South Korea five months ago.
Trump said Sunday on Air Force One that other countries should help the U.S. unlock the Strait of Hormuz for shipping. He singled out China in those remarks.
“Why are we maintaining the Hormuz Strait when it’s really there for China and many other countries? Why aren’t they doing it?” he said.
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