There has been plenty to leave Donald Trump buoyant during his trip around Asia.
Formality, flattery and ego-stroking gifts have sat alongside genuine agreements to solidify trade, diversify supply chains and build on existing allegiances.
But for all of Trump’s gravitas, for all the sway he clearly holds in this region, much of what we have seen has, no doubt, been a form of response to another great power, another unignorable presence.
It’s been more than six years since Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have met in person. Tomorrow they will sit down together to attempt to iron out some of the disagreements that have plagued their relations and rocked the global economy since the early weeks of Trump’s presidency.
Managing this geopolitical relationship is far more complex than anything else he has engaged with this week, but it is the real metric of this trip’s success.
Image: Donald Trump, pictured here with President Xi Jinping in 2019, will meet China’s president again tomorrow. Pic: Reuters
Trump will find a different Chinese leader to the one he last saw in 2019, with a different approach to negotiating with him.
Xi has learnt from experiences in Trump’s first term and has clearly made the strategic decision that a deal for a deal’s sake is not worth having.
This time, China has opted to match Trump’s playbook, matching strength with strength, unpredictability with unpredictability, maximum pressure with maximum pressure – and so far it’s been working for them.
Xi has his own public to answer to and his own image as a strongman to protect. His stance of standing up to Trump – not yielding to the imposition of high tariffs, but instead matching them tit-for-tat, has been popular at home despite rates reaching as high as 145%, making trade all but impossible.
In short, China is coming to the table with a new sense of confidence – and it is one that Trump should not underestimate.
Image: Trump will be seeking to iron out a difficult spell with Xi. Pic: AP
This confidence is based on a number of factors, including major technological breakthroughs and recent military expansion. The unveiling of DeepSeek is one such example – an open source AI product made for a fraction of the cost of Western alternatives.
But it also comes from the fact that China holds arguably the most powerful trump card in these negotiations, and that is the control of the rare earth industry.
Rare earths are the crucial metals used to develop everything from cars and semiconductors to AI and advanced weaponry. China has about 60% of the world’s supply, and controls about 90% of its processing.
China has been gradually increasing restrictions in response to Trump’s tariffs. It raised the stakes a few weeks ago, introducing a stringent new licensing system that requires Chinese government approval for the export of any product containing even trace of rare earths.
This system going into force, as it is scheduled to do in the coming days, would be disastrous for the US and will no doubt be central to negotiations.
Both teams have clearly worked hard to lay the groundwork for their leaders to agree, and it is quite possible that some form of ‘quick fix’ economic deal will be decided; there’s a sense that the current instability is pretty unpalatable to both sides. There may also be progress on issues like fentanyl and TikTok.
Image: Rare earth minerals, pictured here in Inner Mongolia, China, have been a big source of dispute. File pic: Reuters
But a longer-term political understanding that reverses the recent spiral of distrust is unlikely, and there are still so many stumbling blocks – from deep-seated political differences over issues like Taiwan to a contrast of styles.
Trump likes to assume his force of character will get a deal over the line while Xi is process-driven and unlikely to sign off on something that hasn’t been ironed out in advance.
This all matters because the stakes are extremely high. As one source close to the Chinese government put it to me “the chances of armed conflict are not at zero”.
Achieving a degree of stabilisation will, of course, be welcomed in this region and around the world, but the chances of it holding feel thin.
Donald Trump has described crucial trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping as “amazing” – and says he will visit Beijing in April.
The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies met in South Korea as they tried to defuse growing tensions – with both countries imposing aggressive tariffs on exports since the president’s second term began.
Aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump confirmed tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US will be reduced, which could prove much-needed relief to consumers.
It was also agreed that Beijing will work “hard” to stop fentanyl flowing into the US.
Semiconductor chips were another issue raised during their 100-minute meeting, but the president admitted certain issues weren’t discussed.
“On a scale of one to 10, the meeting with Xi was 12,” he told reporters en route back to the US.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:08
‘Their handshake was almost a bit awkward’
Xi a ‘tough negotiator’, says Trump
The talks conclude a whirlwind visit across Asia – with Mr Trump saying he was “too busy” to see Kim Jong Un.
However, the president said he would be willing to fly back to see the North Korean leader, with a view to discussing denuclearisation.
Mr Trump had predicted negotiations with his Chinese counterpart would last for three or four hours – but their meeting ended in less than two.
The pair shook hands before the summit, with the US president quipping: “He’s a tough negotiator – and that’s not good!”
It marks the first face-to-face meeting between both men since 2019 – back in Mr Trump’s first term.
Image: Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Pic: AP
There were signs that Beijing had extended an olive branch to Washington ahead of the talks, with confirmation China will start buying US soybeans again.
American farmers have been feeling the pinch since China stopped making purchases earlier this year – not least because the country was their biggest overseas market.
Chinese stocks reached a 10-year high early on Thursday as investors digested their meeting, with the yuan rallying to a one-year high against the US dollar.
Analysis: A fascinating power play
Sky News Asia correspondent Helen-Ann Smith – who is in Busan where the talks took place – said it was fascinating to see the power play between both world leaders.
She said: “Trump moved quickly to dominate the space – leaning in, doing all the talking, even responding very briefly to a few thrown questions.
“That didn’t draw so much as an eyebrow raise from his counterpart, who was totally inscrutable. Xi does not like or respond well to unscripted moments, Trump lives for them.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:43
Will Trump really run for a third term?
On Truth Social, Mr Trump had described the summit as a gathering of the “G2” – a nod to America and China’s status as the world’s two biggest economies.
While en route to see President Xi, he also revealed that the US “Department of War” has now been ordered to start testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 1992.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the Sudanese city of Al Fashir by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a two-day window after the paramilitary group captured the regional capital, analysts believe.
Sky News is not able to independently verify the claim by Yale Humanitarian Labs, as the city remains under a telecommunications blackout.
Stains and shapes resembling blood and corpses can be seen from space in satellite images analysed by the research lab.
Image: Al Fashir University. Pic: Airbus DS/2025
Image: Al Fashir University. Pic: Airbus DS/2025
Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of Yale Humanitarian Labs, said: “In the past 48 hours since we’ve had [satellite] imagery over Al Fashir, we see a proliferation of objects that weren’t there before RSF took control of Al Fashir – they are approximately 1.3m to 2m long which is critical because in satellite imagery at very high resolution, that’s the average length of a human body lying vertical.”
Mini Minawi, the governor of North Darfur, said on X that 460 civilians have been killed in the last functioning hospital in the city.
The Sudan Doctors Network has also shared that the RSF “cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside Al Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards”.
World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was “appalled and deeply shocked” by the reports.
Satellite images support the claims of a massacre at Al Saudi Hospital, according to Mr Raymond, who said YHL’s report detailed “a large pile of them [objects believed to be bodies] against a wall at one building at Saudi hospital. And we believe that’s consistent with reports that patients and staff were executed en masse”.
In a video message released on Wednesday, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo acknowledged “violations in Al Fashir” and claimed “an investigation committee should start to hold any soldier or officer accountable”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:00
Army soldiers ‘fled key Sudan city’ before capture
Image: The Saudi Maternity Hospital in Al Fashir. Pic: Airbus DS /2025 via AP
The commander is known for committing atrocities in Darfur in the early 2000s as a Janjaweed militia leader, and the RSF has been accused of carrying out genocide in Darfur 20 years on.
Sources have told Sky News the RSF is holding doctors, journalists and politicians captive, demanding ransoms from some families to release their loved ones.
One video shows a man from Al Fashir with an armed man kneeling on the ground, telling his family to pay 15,000. The currency was not made clear.
In some cases, ransoms have been paid, but then more messages come demanding that more money be transferred to secure release.
Muammer Ibrahim, a journalist based in the city, is currently being held by the RSF, who initially shared videos of him crouched on the ground, surrounded by fighters, announcing his hometown had been captured under duress.
He is being held incommunicado as his family scrambles to negotiate his release. Muammer courageously covered the siege of Al Fashir for months, enduring starvation and shelling.
The Committee to Protect Journalists regional director Sara Qudah said the abduction of Muammar Ibrahim “is a grave and alarming reminder that journalists in Al Fashir are being targeted simply for telling the truth”.
Sharing aerial footage of battered homes, he wrote: “The damage is great, but we are going to devote all our energy to mount a strong recovery.”
The storm made landfall in Cuba in the early hours of Wednesday morning before leaving mid-afternoon, heading towards the Bahamas.
Image: Hurricane Melissa has ravaged through the Caribbean. Pic: Reuters
‘Whole communities are underwater’
Alexander Pendry, British Red Cross global response manager, said: “News is already coming through that whole communities are underwater and that the damage left by the strong winds has been devastating.
“The Jamaica Red Cross has been proactively supporting communities by preparing essential supplies and managing shelters. Their priority now is to reach people with aid as soon as possible.
“Across the Caribbean, Red Cross teams have been mobilising as Melissa continues its trajectory across Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti.”
He added: “Tragically, experience tells us that the impact on communities and individuals will be shattering and long lasting.