Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, March 16, U.S. President Donald Trump answered a question about whether his upcoming state visit to China, which had been scheduled to begin March 31, would go ahead. “I don’t know, we’re working on that right now,” the U.S. President said. “We’re speaking to China. I’d love to, but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I feel. And so, we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so.”
Countering media reports that a postponement in the trip was connected to China’s refusal to assist in escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump added, “There’s no tricks to it, either. It’s very simple. We’ve got a war going on. I think it’s important that I be here.”
