CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As President Trump hardened his stance on trade with Canada, one of the nation’s closest allies, the White House said Friday that Mr. Trump would not be traveling to Asia for a round of economic and security meetings with allies this fall. Mr. Trump will not attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting, the East Asia Summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation session later this year, and will send Vice President Mike Pence instead, according to a statement issued by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. “The vice president looks forward to meeting with our allies and partners from across the region to advance security, prosperity and freedom for all,” Ms. Sanders said. Mr. Trump’s decision not to attend the Asia meetings in November — he will travel to the Group of 20 summit meeting in Buenos Aires and visit both France and Ireland earlier that month — underscored the degree to which the president is comfortable creating a political distance between the United States and some of its major allies. And it is all but certain to reinforce concerns among allies in that part of the world about the Trump administration’s ability to be a reliable and stabilizing force against China.

Source: New York Times August 31, 2018 23:43 UTC