Trump announces 10% tariff cut and rare earths agreement with China after high-stakes meeting with Xi

Trump said he had a “very nice conversation” with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney last night during dinner in what was their first meeting since Trump abruptly canceled trade talks last week over a Canadian anti-tariff ad.

Wrapping up his mid-air interview, Trump called the Xi summit “a great success” and “a great honor,” again praising the Chinese leader’s role.

This post is updated LIVE.

Trump told reporters he was “too busy” to meet Kim Jong Un on this trip, but left the door open: “I could come back.”

He added, “I had a great relationship with Kim Jong Un… I think if I didn’t get elected… you’d have had a war.”

Just hours before Trump landed in South Korea, North Korea test-fired surface-to-air cruise missiles, raising tensions across the peninsula.

This post is updated LIVE.

We hear that Trump is now telling reporters that the long-running standoff over rare earths is now “settled”, though he declined to share specifics.

“All of the rare earth [issue] is settled, and that’s for the world… This was a worldwide situation and not just a US situation,” he said, referring to China’s monopoly on processing critical minerals and its recent export restrictions.

According to Trump, there’s now “no roadblock from China anymore.”

This post is updated LIVE.

President Trump is now speaking to reporters from Air Force One, moments after leaving his high-stakes meeting with Xi Jinping.

“It was an amazing meeting. He is a great leader,” Trump said. He added, “We have come to a conclusion on many important points and we will be handing them to you in a little while.”

No further details yet, but it sounds like announcements are coming. Standby.

China’s markets surged this morning as investors bet big on a breakthrough from the Trump-Xi meeting. The Shanghai Composite Index hit 4,025.39 points, its highest level in a decade, after gaining over 2% in just five days.

Back in the US, the mood’s more cautious. Dow futures slipped 95 points, or 0.2%, while S&P and Nasdaq 100 futures were also down slightly.

In the last full session, Cryptopolitan had reported that the Dow gave up early gains and closed down about 74 points, despite briefly touching a record high. The S&P 500 ended flat, and the Nasdaq rose 0.6%.

This post is updated LIVE.

Trump and Xi have officially left Gimhae Airport. Xi’s motorcade is already on the move, headed to Gyeongju, where the APEC leaders’ summit kicks off tomorrow.

Trump, meanwhile, has boarded Air Force One and is flying out of South Korea, wrapping up his Asia tour. He attended side events yesterday but will skip the main summit entirely.

Neither leader has made any public comment about what was said behind closed doors. But when they do, you’ll be the first to know. Stay tuned

Cryptopolitan observed that the Trump-Xi meeting lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes, blowing past its original end time of 12:30pm. Trump and Xi were expected to leave by 12:45 local time, but they finished at 13:10.

Outside, reporters are back on the curb, watching Air Force One parked on the tarmac, engines off, ready for wheels up the moment Trump walks out.

This post is updated LIVE.

The bilateral meeting between Trump and Xi is over. No press, no leaks;  just the two leaders and their top teams locked in behind closed doors for over an hour.

We’re chasing every line coming out of that room. Updates landing soon. Don’t go anywhere.

Outside Gimhae Airport, the streets are on lockdown. Dozens of South Korean police officers just intercepted a pro-US, anti-China YouTuber’s van blaring slogans through mounted loudspeakers.

The vehicle was halted near the intersection where Xi Jinping’s motorcade is expected to pass after the summit, and was quickly forced to retreat.

Inside, it was brief chaos. Trump and Xi’s appearance triggered a full crush of Chinese and American journalists, elbow-to-elbow with each side’s security teams. After just a few minutes, the press was booted.

This post is updated LIVE.

Xi Jinping ended his public comments by calling on both countries to step up as global heavyweights, saying China and the US can shoulder responsibilities together as the world faces rising instability.

The Chinese leader told Trump he wants to “get real things done,” not just for Washington and Beijing, but for the rest of the world watching closely.

With that, the press was ushered out. The private talks between Trump and Xi are now underway, behind a sealed door in Busan.

We’re tracking everything. Updates will be coming the moment they break. Don’t go anywhere.

Xi Jinping acknowledged Trump’s “very enthusiastic” involvement in several tense regional flashpoints, thanking him for his “great contribution” to the Gaza ceasefire deal recently concluded.

He also pointed to Trump’s visit to Malaysia, where he witnessed the signing of the Joint Declaration on peace along the Cambodia–Thailand border, crediting him with offering direct input into the agreement.

Xi said China is managing that same border dispute “in our own way,” and emphasized that both nations have been working to promote peace talks across other global hotspots.

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Speaking through an interpreter, Xi Jinping said he’s long believed China and the United States should be partners and friends.

“This is what history has taught us and what reality demands,” Xi told Trump, as the two leaders sat down in Busan.

Xi added he’s ready to keep working with Trump to create a “sound atmosphere” for both countries to grow and develop together.

This post is updated LIVE.

Before stepping into the bilateral meeting room, Trump told reporters he expects a “very successful meeting” with Xi Jinping, and said the two leaders have “always had a good relationship.”

Xi responded, saying it was “great to see” Trump again. This is their first in-person meeting since 2019, when they met at the G20 summit in Osaka.

Xi also said that he and Trump have held three phone calls and exchanged letters since Trump’s re-election. “It is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then,” Xi said, adding both countries should “stay the right course.”

This post is updated LIVE.

Chinese state media confirm that Xi Jinping has officially arrived in Busan, just minutes after Donald Trump’s helicopter touched down.

While today wraps up Trump’s five-day swing through Asia, Xi is just getting started, launching a three-day state visit to South Korea, his first since 2014, when he visited under former President Park Geun-hye.

Xi’s schedule includes a face-to-face with Trump, a speech at the APEC leaders summit, and multiple bilateral meetings as part of his South Korean state visit.

This post is updated LIVE.

In Gyeongju, Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung finalized a major bilateral agreement involving investment flows and tariff adjustments.

One notable point on the agenda was Seoul’s request to reprocess spent nuclear fuel for naval propulsion, a long-standing strategic ask from South Korea’s defense circles.

Trump also used the moment to bring North Korea back into the conversation. “I know you’re officially at war, but we will see what we can do to get that all straightened out,” he told Lee, signaling a possible return to dialogue with Kim Jong Un ahead of Xi Jinping’s arrival to Busan.

🕰️ Stay tuned. Updates dropping as they come.