President Donald Trump performed his fist-pump dance after landing in Malaysia for the first stop on his Asia trip Oct. 26. The president had previously turned the dance into a signature part of his 2024 campaign.
Trump participated in the 47th ASEAN Summit, which takes place Oct. 26 to Oct. 28 in Kuala Lumpur, before making stops in Japan and South Korea. While in Malaysia, Trump will witness Thailand and Cambodia sign a ceasefire deal, which he claims to have helped broker, Reuters reported.
After several days in Malaysia and Japan, Trump plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he is in South Korea at the end of his trip Oct. 30.
Trump claimed he may reach a trade deal with Xi but has left the door open to leave the continent without one. “I think we’ll make a deal,” Trump said Oct. 20. “They threatened us with rare earths, and I threatened them with tariffs.”
President Donald Trump joins performers for a dance during the welcome ceremony next to Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as he arrives on Air Force One at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on Oct. 26, 2025.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur for a fifth round of in-person discussions since May.
“I think we have a very successful framework for the leaders to discuss on Thursday,” Bessent told reporters.
U.S. and Chinese officials said they discussed trade expansion, an extension of the truce, fentanyl, U.S. port entrance fees, rare earths, TikTok and more.
Li described the discussions as “candid,” while Bessent said they were “very substantial negotiations.”
Trump trip during shutdown draws criticism
The trip comes as the U.S. federal government shutdown grinds to fourth week with no end in sight. It threatens SNAP and WIC funding, imperiling food options for approximately 42 million Americans come Nov. 1.
Several Democrats said Trump should have scrapped the trip and stayed in Washington in an effort to negotiate an end to the shutdown. At the center of the multi-week shutdown is a disagreement between Republicans and Democrats over Affordable Care Act subsidies. Republicans say they will not discuss health policy as part of a bill to reopen the government, and Democrats say Congress needs to permanently extend the credits now before open enrollment for state health insurance marketplaces begins Nov. 1.
“Shouldn’t the president listen to the cares of the American people and their desperate need on health care, rather than taking a foreign trip?” Schumer, D-New York, asked Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, who held a talk-a-thon on the Senate floor for over 22 hours in protest of the Trump administration’s policies.
The enhanced tax credits increased subsidies for eligible people and expanded eligibility to include those making more than four times the federal poverty level. In 2025, that figure is $62,600 for an individual or $124,800 for a family of four.
If Congress doesn’t act and the credits expire at the end of 2025, out-of-pocket premiums would rise by more than 75% on average, USA TODAY previously reported.
Contributing: Bart Jansen, Saman Shafiq, Melina Kahn, Rebecca Morin, Sara Wire – USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump dances in Malaysia in first stop on Asia tour
