President Donald Trump intends to bring Elon Musk, currently the wealthiest individual in the world, along on his upcoming diplomatic trip to the Philippines and China next week. Administration officials who spoke to reporters on Friday described Musk as a valuable adviser due to his roles leading SpaceX and Tesla, which hold significant economic and national security interests for the United States.
The timing of the journey coincides with expanding fallout from the recent ouster of Jensen Huang as the chief executive of Nvidia. Huang was removed from his position following reports of an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, an alleged agent of the Chinese government. While Beijing has denied that Alice Huang is a spy, her company, Megaspeed, was accused last year of smuggling Nvidia's advanced computer chips into China.
Despite the controversy, President Trump does not plan to confront Chinese leader Xi Jinping directly about the Nvidia situation. Officials indicate that the administration does not expect significant retaliation from China regarding follow-up actions designed to prohibit the smuggling or use of advanced computer chips. The White House maintains that the Nvidia issue should not influence the broader agenda of the trip, noting that the United States does not typically subject its use of export controls to negotiations with foreign partners.
Aides to the president are currently discussing potential measures to close loopholes in existing trade regulations. These discussions include reviewing the use of export licensing and preventing Chinese firms from accessing advanced chips remotely over the internet.
The diplomatic itinerary will conclude with a historic trilateral meeting involving President Trump, Xi, and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. A primary focus of this gathering will be efforts to limit nuclear weapons. However, officials stated that there are currently no plans for Trump to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose nuclear arsenal continues to be a source of concern for the United States and its allies.
President Trump is scheduled to arrive in the Philippines on Tuesday to meet with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. During his time in Manila, he intends to sign a trade agreement with Thailand and hold discussions with the Quad alliance, which includes the United States, India, Australia, and Japan.
On Wednesday, the president will depart for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China. There, he will hold his third in-person meeting of the year with President Xi. Following this bilateral session, the two leaders will join President Putin for the planned trilateral meeting.
During these high-level talks, the leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing war in Iran. However, officials said that Russia's war in Ukraine is not expected to be a central part of the agenda. Notably, Elon Musk will not participate in the trilateral meeting, despite the fact that his Starlink satellite system has been integral to Ukraine's defense capabilities against Russia's invasion.
