Sawt Falasteen - Trump heads for Japan as hopes grow for China trade deal

Speaking on Air Force One, Trump said he was hopeful of a deal when he sees Xi on Thursday in South Korea, while also indicating he was willing to extend his trip in order to meet North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.

"I have a lot of respect for President Xi and we are going to I think... come away with a deal," he told reporters en route from Malaysia, where comments from US and Chinese trade negotiators raised hopes of an accord.

Trump was due in Tokyo in time for an evening audience with Japan's emperor.

Dozens of people gathered at Haneda Airport hoping to take photos of Air Force One.

On Tuesday, Trump is expected to meet new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and make a speech on the USS George Washington.

"I hear phenomenal things. (Takaichi) was a great ally and friend of Shinzo Abe, who was my friend," Trump said, referring to the assassinated former Japanese premier.

"That really helps Japan and the United States, I think she's going to be great."

Takaichi said she told Trump ahead of their meeting that strengthening the Japan-US alliance was her administration's "top priority on the diplomatic and security front".

On Friday, she announced in her first policy speech that Japan would be spending two percent of gross domestic product on defence this fiscal year.

But Washington, which has some 60,000 military personnel in Japan, wants Tokyo to spend even more, potentially matching the five percent of GDP pledged by NATO members in June.

Most Japanese imports into the United States are subject to tariffs of 15 percent, less painful than the 25 percent first threatened.

But Trump also wants Japan to import more American products, including rice and cars, particularly "very beautiful" Ford F-150 pickup trucks.

Questions also surround Japan's commitment in their July trade deal to invest $550 billion in the United States. Japan says only 1-2 percent of this will be actual investments.

- 'Going to be great ' -

Trump's Asia trip, his first tour of the region since returning to office, kicked off in Malaysia on Sunday with a flurry of agreements.

That included rewarding neighbours Cambodia and Thailand with trade agreements after co-signing their ceasefire pact on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

He also agreed a trade and minerals deal with Malaysia, and moved to mend fences with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"I'm convinced that in a few days we'll have a definitive solution.... so that life can continue well and happily," Lula told reporters afterwards.

The greatest prize for Trump remains a China deal.

He is due to meet Xi on Thursday for their first face-to-face talks since the 79-year-old Republican's return to the White House.

Before Trump's arrival in Malaysia, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China's Vice Premier He Lifeng had already held two days of trade talks, seeking an agreement to avoid additional 100 percent tariffs due to come into effect on November 1.

China's vice commerce minister, Li Chenggang, said a "preliminary consensus" had been reached.

Bessent told ABC that the extra tariffs had been averted, and signalled a deal on rare earths and American soybean exports had been reached.

"It's going to be great for China, great for us," Trump told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

- 'Would love' to meet Kim -

Trump is due in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, and will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

Global markets will be watching closely to see if the meeting with Xi on Thursday can halt the trade war sparked by Trump's sweeping tariffs, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing's rare earth curbs.

Trump has also fuelled speculation that he could meet North Korea's Kim while on the Korean peninsula.

The two leaders last met in 2019 at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the border area separating the two Koreas.

"I would love to meet with him if he'd like to meet. I got along great with Kim Jong Un. I liked him. He liked me," Trump said on Air Force One.

Asked if he would extend his trip to enable a meeting, he said: "Well, I hadn't thought of it, but I think the answer would be yeah, I would, I would do that, sure."

Q.Bulbul--SF-PST