Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday that the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping may be delayed for logistical reasons.
Trump suggested on Sunday that the summit could be delayed because the US is pressuring China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Besant walked back those comments on Monday, arguing that the summit would be delayed if Trump chose to remain in Washington to coordinate war efforts in Iran.
“If the meetings are delayed, it will not be delayed because the President demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz,” Besant said in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in Paris. “If for some reason the meeting is rescheduled, it will be rescheduled due to logistical reasons.”
The Trump-Xi meeting is scheduled to take place in China as the US President attacks Iran which has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz and sent global oil prices rising. The strait carries about 20% of the world’s oil, and remained largely impassable during the war.
Trump’s visit, scheduled from March 31 to April 2, will be the first by a US president since visiting the country in 2017. The President had met Xi in South Korea five months ago.
Trump said on Air Force One on Sunday that other countries should help the US open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. He targeted China in those comments.
“Why are we maintaining the Strait of Hormuz when it really belongs to China and many other countries? Why aren’t they doing the same?” He said.
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