Trump suggests he may postpone his trip to China because of the war with Iran, but Besant says it’s not about pressure on the Strait of Hormuz

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump may postpone his trip to China because of the war with Iran, but Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said Monday it’s not to pressure Beijing over the Strait of Hormuz.

Read more: Tehran claims the US attacked it from the UAE as the Iran war enters its third week

Besant said any delays to Trump’s trip to Beijing at the end of the month would not be due to disagreements over the Iran war or efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a curving waterway important for global shipping.

“If for some reason the meeting is rescheduled, it will be rescheduled for logistical reasons,” the minister told CNBC. He added, “The president wants to stay in the capital to coordinate the war, and traveling abroad at a time like this may not be optimal.”

Trump indicated that he may postpone the trip as part of his efforts to increase pressure on Beijing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and calm oil prices that rose during the Iran war.

The uncertainty shows the widespread impact of the Iran war

In an interview on Sunday with the Financial Times, Trump said China’s dependence on oil from the Middle East means it must help a new coalition he is trying to form to move oil tanker traffic through the strait after Iran’s threats have choked global oil flows.

“We would like to know” before the trip whether Beijing would help us, the Republican president said.

“We may be late,” he said in the interview.

The uncertainty highlights the extent to which the US-Israeli strikes on Iran have reshaped global politics in the past two weeks. Canceling a direct visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping could have major economic consequences: relations between Washington and Beijing have been fraught with both sides threatening the other with heavy tariffs over the past year.

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said Trump’s trip to China would likely be postponed.

“At this point, the president is looking forward to visiting China. Dates may be postponed,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House on Monday. He added: “As commander-in-chief, his first priority now is to ensure the continued success of Operation Epic Fury,” the name of the US effort against Iran.

Besant says the US will reaffirm the “stability” of relations with China

A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said that China and the United States have maintained contacts regarding Trump’s visit. “The head of state’s diplomacy plays an indispensable strategic guiding role in China-US relations,” Lin Jian said at a daily press conference.

Besant made his comments in Paris, where he was meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in a new round of trade talks that was supposed to pave the way for Trump’s visit to Beijing. The United States and China have declared a truce that has prevented the two sides from imposing competing tariffs, but the risks remain high.

“We spent two very good days here,” Besant said, adding that a statement “reaffirming stability” between the two countries would be issued “in the next few days.”

Besant explicitly urged investors not to react negatively if Trump postpones his trip.

In the early days of the Iranian conflict, Trump said that US Navy ships would escort oil tankers through the strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, and downplayed the threat posed by Iran. But with oil prices rising, he and his administration have been forced to consider new options — including the idea, floated this weekend, of other countries joining the campaign with their own warships. So far, no one has officially responded to the call.

AP analysis: Two weeks after the war with Iran, Trump retreated from his policy position

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from a weekend in Florida that the United States had spoken with “about seven” countries about providing military support. However, he did not mention any, and demurred when asked directly about China – although he later indicated that he had made such an offer to Beijing.

“China represents an interesting case study,” he said, noting its dependence on Gulf oil. “So I said, ‘Do you want to come and we’ll figure it out? Maybe they will, maybe they won’t.’

The administration downplays the importance of high oil prices

The war in Iran has sent oil prices skyrocketing, driving up the price Americans pay at the gas station, just as the midterm election season begins to heat up.

Besant downplayed the impact of the war on oil prices and accused the media of “trying to cause a crisis when it is not there.” Echoing Trump, the minister insisted that prices would fall after the conflict ended.

“I don’t know how many weeks it will take, but on the other side of this, the world will be safer, and we will have better supplies,” Besant told CNBC.

He said the Treasury Department did not trade oil futures in an attempt to limit prices. Asked whether it would go ahead, the minister said: “I’m not sure under what authority or under what auspices” that would happen.

Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Bloomberg TV over the weekend that the administration has talked about this strategy.

Beijing faces its own economic pressures

China recently lowered its 2026 growth target slightly to 4.5% to 5%, its slowest growth forecast since 1991 — meaning prolonged disruptions in the Strait could have long-term impacts on Beijing as well.

During the press conference in Beijing, Lin did not directly respond to questions regarding Trump’s call for foreign assistance in the Strait. He noted the impact on commodity and energy trade and reiterated his government’s call for an end to the fighting.

He added, “China once again calls on all parties to immediately stop military actions, avoid further escalation of tensions, and prevent instability in the region from further affecting global economic development.”

Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed.