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President Donald Trump spent the week in Asia meeting with other world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, as his administration stepped up attacks on suspected drug boats in Latin America.
Trump met with Xi on Thursday in South Korea, where the two negotiated a series of trade deals. Specifically, Trump said he agreed to cut tariffs on Chinese imports by 10% – bringing the rate down from 57% to 47% – because China said it would cooperate with the United States to resolve the fentanyl crisis.
Additionally, Trump said he would not move forward with imposing additional 100% tariffs on Chinese goods, which are set to take effect on Saturday. Trump threatened a steep hike after China announced in October that it would impose export controls on rare earth magnets, which he said China had agreed to delay for a year.
Afterwards, Trump described the meeting as a huge success and signaled that a broader trade deal between the two countries would be signed shortly.
Trump, XI meet to resolve trade tensions caused by US tariffs
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
“From zero to 10, 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump told reporters after his meeting with Xi. “Many decisions have been made…and we have reached a conclusion on many, many important points.”
From China’s perspective, Xi later said the two countries should work together and complete outstanding tasks at the summit for the “peace of mind” of China, the United States and the rest of the world.
“Both sides should take into account the long-term perspective, focusing on the benefits of cooperation rather than falling into a vicious circle of mutual retaliation,” Xi said, according to a state media report on the meeting.
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Additionally, Trump announced during his Asia trip, which also included stops in Malaysia and Japan, that he would ask the United States to restart nuclear weapons testing — upending decades of precedent on nuclear policy, since the United States has not conducted nuclear weapons tests since 1992. The announcement also left lawmakers, experts and military personnel wondering what he meant since no other country conducted a known nuclear test from North Korea in 2017.
The last known tests by China and Russia were in the 1990s, when Russia was still the Soviet Union.
A mushroom cloud rises following a nuclear weapon test during Operation Tumbler-Snapper. More than two thousand Marines witnessed the event, which took place in 1952 at the Nevada Proving Ground. (Getty Images)
The White House had no comment to Fox News Digital. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
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However, experts agree that Trump probably meant that he would ask the United States to either increase its testing of nuclear weapons systems or conduct testing of low-yield nuclear weapons.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters Thursday that Trump would continue to work on nuclear proliferation, but said tests would be done to ensure the weapons were operating at their optimal capacity.
“It’s important to U.S. national security to make sure that the nuclear arsenal that we have actually works properly,” Vance said. “And this is part of a testing regime. To be clear, we know it’s working well, but it’s a matter of staying current over time. And the president just wants to make sure we’re doing this with his nation.”
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The Trump administration has also stepped up its campaign against drug cartels in Latin America, totaling at least 14 strikes against suspected drug boats in the region.
The United States killed six suspected drug traffickers on a boat in international waters near Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced on October 14, 2025. (real DonaldTrump/Truth Social)
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the United States had carried out three strikes against four ships in the Eastern Pacific, and Hegseth announced Wednesday that another strike had also been carried out in those waters.
But the White House on Friday dismissed reports that the Trump administration had identified and was preparing to imminently strike military targets in Venezuela. Trump later told reporters he had not determined whether he would lead strikes in Venezuela.
Lawmakers — including some Republicans — pressed for more answers about the strikes and questioned whether they were even legal. For example, Senators Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, and Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, spearheaded a war powers resolution that would prohibit U.S. armed forces from engaging in “hostilities” against Venezuela.
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“The Trump administration has made clear that it may launch military action within Venezuela’s borders and will not stop at boat strikes in the Caribbean,” Schiff said in an Oct. 17 statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
