President Trump boards Air Force One in Beijing, China Nov. 10 to travel to Danang, Vietnam. (Andrew Harnik / AP)
DANANG, Vietnam - President Trump revived his talk on trade Friday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit here, warning that he will not allow "the United States to be taken advantage of anymore. "
Speaking to a gathering of business leaders, Trump demanded trade" on a fair and equal basis, "and returned to his campaign rhetoric, promising to place the United States first in global deals and agreements.
"he said, speaking shortly after arriving in Vietnam, his penultimate stop on a five-country, 12-day swing through Asia. "I am always going to put America first, the same way that I hope all of you in this room to put your countries first."
But the president's more fiery and protectionist tone Friday offered a stark departure from just a day earlier, when on Chinese soil in Beijing, Trump seemed to reluctant to press his case as sharply with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
[ In Beijing, Trump declines to hit President Xi on trade: 'I do not blame China' ]
There, Trump lavished praise on Xi , touting their "great chemistry" and saying that he did not blame China [a] []
The president has previously expressed admiration for stronger leaders, including authoritarian rulers and even dictators, which might explain his reluctance to confront Xi so directly head-on. Trump arrived in China as Xi had just consolidated his power at China's Party Congress in October.
On Friday, Xi spoke directly after Trump, and the U.S. president's remarks, which comes on more friendly soil to the United States, at least obliquely aimed at China. Trump expressed concerns about intellectual property, ensuring "fair and equal market access," product dumping, currency manipulation, predatory industrial policies, and freedom of navigation.
When he did mention China by name, it was to rehash his "excellent trip" to the country, where he said he and Xi discussed "China's unfair trade practices and the enormous trade deficits they have produced with the United States."
Trump also reiterated his previous line, which he also tweeted, that he does not blame China - or any other nation, for that matter - for a trade imbalance.
"I do not blame China, or any other country, of which there are many, for taking advantage of the United States on trade," he said. "If their representatives are able to get away with it, they are just doing their jobs. I wish the previous administrations in my country saw what was happening and did something about it. They did not, but I will. "
Meanwhile, shortly before Trump's address, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announces that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not have a formal, sit-down meeting at the summit , putting to rest much speculation on the topic.
"There is never a meeting confirmed," she said, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Vietnam.
But Sanders notes that because they are less scripted encounters. "Are they going to bump into each other and say hello? Certainly possible and likely, "she said. "The Kremlin, meanwhile, said that a formal sit-down may still be in a calendar." (19459009) The Kremlin, meanwhile, said that a formal sit-down may still be possible. Dmitri Peskov, the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that discussions were ongoing, adding that "contradictory information was coming from the American side."
"They will communicate on the sidelines one way or another," Peskov told reporters, according to the Interfax news service.
The relationship between Trump and Putin is complex and fraught, in part because of the president's refusal to definitively acknowledge the conclusion of his intelligence agency that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Washington for his marathon trip through Asia, though other administration officials had downplayed the likelihood of such a meeting.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said while "it would not be at all unusual if they ended up with some kind of a pull-aside," he did not anticipate any official meeting. "Andrew Roth in Moscow contributed to this report." ]
