Trump to flex muscles on Asia tour after midterms losses

With Trump politically weakened as he enters the remaining two-year ‘lame-duck’ period of his presidency, world leaders may be quietly considering how to take advantage of the changing balance of power in Washington.

The 80-year-old Republican is heading to the ASEAN summit in the Philippines and the APEC summit in China amid a dramatically changed and hostile political situation at home, following the Democrats’ victories in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in the 2028 presidential election, the unpredictable billionaire may be more inclined to focus his attention on the international stage.

“After bad midterms, this is how presidents reset,” Edgard Kagan, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told a news briefing.

This is particularly true of Trump’s Asian tour, where he is unlikely to face public questions about domestic politics.

China has described the midterm elections as an “internal affair” and said it is “willing to continue working” with the United States after Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress.

However, the shift in Washington’s political balance will remain on the radar of regional leaders, said Joshua Kurlantzick, an expert in Southeast Asia and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“In private, many (Asian) leaders are relieved,” Kurlantzick wrote in an article this month.
“The Iran war has been particularly challenging for the United States’ Asian partners and allies, and they hope that after the midterm results US President Donald Trump’s decision-making on the issue will become more predictable.”