WASHINGTON, USA—Weakened on the domestic front, President Donald Trump embarks this week on a long and challenging Asian tour set to be dominated by the North Korean nuclear threat after months of verbal escalation between Washington and Pyongyang. With his approval ratings languishing at record lows, will the 71-year-old president manage to leave behind the spectacular recent developments in the probe into Russian election meddling? The White House has sought to emphasize the length of the five-nation tour—the longest by any US president since George H.W. “He’s a powerful man,” Trump recently declared of Xi. “We’re going to the Philippines, where the previous administration was not exactly welcome,” Trump crowed earlier this week.

Source: The Standard November 02, 2017 15:11 UTC