PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping here Thursday at his luxurious Mar-a-Lago estate, kicking off a two-day summit that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said would include “very frank discussions” over North Korea and trade.
Speaking to reporters after greeting Xi at the airport, Tillerson said the U.S. side would press the Chinese delegation to “find ways to exercise influence on North Korea’s actions to dismantle their nuclear weapons and their missile technology program.”
“China can be part of a new strategy to end North Korea’s reckless behavior and ensure security, stability and economic prosperity in Northeast Asia,” Tillerson said.
Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, greeted Xi with a handshake as the Chinese leader and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrived at the resort for a series of bilateral talks, and a fancy opening-night dinner with Trump and his top aides.
Trump arrived aboard Air Force One shortly after Xi. While flying, Trump told reporters on the plane that he believes “China will be stepping up” to deal more firmly with the government in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
On trade, Trump reiterated his long-standing grievance over a large U.S. trade deficit with China.
“We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many, many years,” he said. “That’s one of the things we are going to be talking about.”
The unorthodox location of the summit is intended to lessen the formality of the first meeting between the two leaders, White House aides said, and help establish a working relationship, if not rapport, between Trump and Xi after moments of tension during the U.S. election season.
Xi will spend just over 24 hours here, including a working lunch Friday, officials said. Xi and the Chinese delegation will not stay overnight at the resort but rather at a nearby hotel.
The lush trappings of the president’s personal property will not mask the seriousness and urgency of the long list of topics to be discussed.
Trump has offered conflicting signals about his state of mind heading into the summit. He told business leaders in Washington this week that he had a “lot of respect” for Xi, but last week on Twitter he predicted the meeting would be a “very difficult one” because of the U.S. trade deficit with China.
In an interview with the Financial Times last weekend, Trump said he would exhort Xi to put more pressure on Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile testing, which has violated U.N. Security Council resolutions. He said if Beijing failed to act, the United States would consider unilateral responses.
An administration official told reporters Tuesday that the “clock is very, very quickly running out” and all options are on the table, although the White House has declined to be specific. Hours later, North Korea executed another ballistic missile test that prompted a curt response from Tillerson, who said in a written statement that the U.S. had spoken enough about North Korea and would have no further comment about its provocations.
In 2013, then-President Barack Obama invited Xi to Sunnylands, a lush estate in Southern California, for a first summit in an attempt to break the ice. The meeting had mixed success, helping lead to later breakthroughs on climate efforts and a reduction of Chinese cybertheft against U.S. businesses. In other areas, however, including maritime security and human rights, relations between Obama and Xi soured.
“Our presidents should stop trying to use a personal touch with Chinese leaders. It doesn’t work,” said Michael Auslin, an Asia expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “They have their interests, we have our interests. A District of Columbia meeting shows we can focus on interests, which is what the Chinese expect. Sunnylands was a failure by every measure. This has the same potential.”
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