President Donald Trump’s Asia tour, which includes the 47th ASEAN Summit, an official visit to Japan, and the APEC Summit in South Korea, is not simply a series of diplomatic activities. It is a carefully calculated symbolic action, reflecting Trump’s efforts to re-establish America’s position in the Indo-Pacific region in his own way. It allows Trump to both reassert his influence and take the initiative before his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Starting with ASEAN
The choice of the 47th ASEAN Summit as the starting point for the trip is highly symbolic. After four years of the Biden administration focusing on values diplomacy and democratic alliances, Trump returns to Southeast Asia with a clearer goal: redefining the US presence in the region in terms of transactions and specific interests. In the context of China continuing to increase its influence through large-scale infrastructure investment projects, Trump’s appearance has strategic implications: the US is not leaving Southeast Asia but will return in a reciprocal and mutually beneficial way.
This message is markedly different from Biden’s approach. Trump, on the other hand, prefers the language of interests, displaying his familiar “strong dealmaker” identity. He talks about investment, trade, energy, and defense—areas where the US can bring real value but also require ASEAN partners to share the costs and benefits. By Trump’s logic, this is “equal cooperation,” in which the US no longer plays the role of patron but a fair partner.
In terms of image, attending the 47th ASEAN Summit and witnessing the signing of the Thai-Cambodian peace agreement allowed Trump to craft a diplomatic image as a “peacemaker” and “negotiator.” This image emphasized his global leadership abilities, and it also allowed him to enter his talks with President Xi Jinping with a higher profile, as an American president with the support of China’s neighboring Southeast Asian region. By appearing at a regional event rich in the symbolism of reconciliation, Trump successfully created the impression that the United States was not only returning to Asia with power but also with the ability to coordinate and lead regional peace.
To Japan
For Tokyo, Trump’s visit has a twofold meaning. On the one hand, he wants to strengthen the traditional alliance between the US and Japan, which is the security pillar of the entire Northeast Asian region. On the other hand, Trump also wants to test the loyalty of this ally in a new version of the “America First” doctrine (America First 2.0). He asks Japan to share more of the defense burden, expand the market for American goods, and cooperate more deeply in controlling the supply chain in the fields of semiconductors, batteries, and artificial intelligence, where the US wants to reduce its dependence on China. In return, Japan will continue to receive security protection from the US.
With these demands, Trump reaffirms his image as a tough leader even with his friends. This is the difference between Trump and previous presidents like Biden or Obama: he does not consider allies as natural pillars of American power but rather partners who must prove the value of the concept of “allies.” That not only reflects the transactional thinking in Trump’s diplomacy but also serves a deeper strategic goal of preparing for a long-term competition with China by regrouping the US-Japan economic-security alliance axis in Northeast Asia.
In terms of image, the Japan leg helps Trump consolidate his position as a global leader unbound by traditional diplomatic protocol. He can shake hands, bargain, and publicly demand his fair share. That is how Trump wants to re-establish the image of America in the perception of allies, as an America that is unpredictable.
By stopping in Tokyo, Trump sent a dual message: America remains Japan’s indispensable ally, but this engagement must reflect the new balance of power. Japan, in Trump’s strategic calculations, is both a key partner in containing China and a lever for America’s return to regional leadership.
Ending in Korea
The APEC Summit in South Korea—the destination and also the symbolic explosion point of the entire trip. In Seoul, Trump not only attended an economic forum but also stepped onto the stage where he directly talked with President Xi Jinping after more than 6 years, since 2019, in the context of the world witnessing a deep division between two development models: Western capitalism and socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Having “finalized” bilateral commitments with ASEAN and Japan, Trump entered APEC with the image of a regional economic leader. He wanted to show that the US, under his administration, is still at the center of the global supply chain, still capable of leading growth, and still a reliable partner in trade cooperation. In his remarks on the sidelines, Trump emphasized that APEC cannot be a playground dominated by one country, clearly referring to China.
More significantly, ending the trip in Seoul is also deeply symbolic. South Korea is right next door to North Korea, where Trump made global headlines when he crossed the demilitarized zone in 2019. His return to the peninsula is a reminder that he remains the only one who can control North Korea’s instability. To the international media, Trump’s image at APEC 2025 is not just that of a politician but that of a reshaper of the Asian chessboard, a man who brings with him a combination of commercial power, negotiating prowess, and strategic savvy.
President Trump appears before President Xi Jinping not as a conciliator, but as an equal opponent, ready to “re-evaluate” US-China relations. Meeting Xi after passing through ASEAN and Japan allows Trump to enter the negotiating table with the upper hand; he has been welcomed in the region, has strengthened his allies, and has created a network of consensus to counterbalance Beijing.
Trump, the man who reset the Asian chessboard
From a strategic perspective, the ASEAN → Japan → South Korea sequence is not just a logical geographical schedule but a deliberate diplomatic plan through which Trump wants to build the image of “America returning to Asia but playing by Trump’s rules.” If previous presidents came to Asia to strengthen the liberal order as a mandatory responsibility, Trump came to redefine that order according to the principle of “reciprocal” benefits.
All these stops are linked together in a symbolic journey for Trump 2.0, not through military pressure, but through the art of negotiation; not through liberal idealism, but through pragmatic realism. In the eyes of observers, the journey conveys a clear message: Trump’s America is not retreating but is returning.
