News Analysis

President Trump is scheduled to travel through Malaysia, Japan and South Korea before holding a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping, China’s president.

President Trump is heading to Asia on Friday evening at a moment of turmoil at home: He has deployed an aircraft carrier to Latin America, cut off trade talks with Canada, razed the East Wing of the White House, cheered on the closure of the federal government and sent the National Guard to several American cities.

But for the next six days, Mr. Trump is putting down his sledgehammer and embarking on a diplomatic tour, testing his role as a statesman and negotiator as he pursues a trade deal with China to end a dispute that has harmed both economies.

“We have a lot of things to discuss, including our farmers,” Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after he took off from Joint Base Andrews, just outside Washington. “The various trade deals that have been made in the past — some broken, some not broken.”

Mr. Trump is scheduled to travel through Malaysia, Japan and South Korea before holding a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping, the president of China, on Thursday just before heading home and greeting trick-or-treaters at the White House. It is unusual for a president to leave the country on a multination tour of the world during a government shutdown.

The trip is heavy with ceremonial appearances but also negotiations that will have consequences for the global economy. It comes as Asian allies of the United States are reeling from Mr. Trump’s tariff policies and Beijing, Washington’s biggest global economic competitor, has shown no sign of giving