Donald Trump kicked off his five-day Asia tour on Sunday with a dance performance, a trip that experts say will test his deal-making skills.
- Kristin Knutsen
Journalist - Anette Aasheim
Journalist
Published: 26.10.2025 15:58
The short version
- Donald Trump kicked off his first Asia tour with a spontaneous dance during a reception in Malaysia, an incident that received a lot of attention online.
- Behind the scenes, the visit is marked by serious tensions, particularly related to the trade conflict with China and uncertain peace agreements in the region.
- Experts question Trump's ability to achieve lasting results beyond symbolic actions.
The summary is created using artificial intelligence (AI) and quality assured by Aftenposten's journalists.
Trump landed in Malaysia on Sunday morning (Norwegian time), stepped off the plane and walked down a red carpet. He stopped in front of Malaysian officials. They welcomed him by dancing, clapping their hands and moving their hips to the music.
Trump responded with his own dance. A kind of rhythmic boxing movement with his right arm.
This is how the US president began the ASEAN summit in the capital Kuala Lumpur. He will visit three countries over the course of five days. The goal is to secure both trade agreements and ceasefires.
This is his first visit to Asia since taking office as president.
In Malaysia, Trump is scheduled to meet several Asian leaders, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping. There is great excitement surrounding this meeting, which will take place on Thursday.
Several point out that the trip could be the big test of the president's ability to make deals between rivals.
The President Who Loves Show
– Trump loves show and the feeling of making deals. There is no doubt that he wants to appear important, says senior researcher Hans Jørgen Gåsemyr at Nupi to Aftenposten.
He believes the meeting between Trump and China on Thursday is neither a turning point nor something that begins or ends here. Rather, it is a small part of a much bigger picture.
The trade war between China and the United States has flared up again ahead of the meeting, after China announced restrictions on exports of critical rare earth metals, prompting Trump to threaten a 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods.
But before the meeting, the American president is still optimistic about an agreement.
According to Gåsemyr, China probably places less importance on the upcoming meeting, both relatively and concretely.
"The United States is important to China, and China remains vulnerable and has a lot to lose if the conflict escalates. They want solutions, but not at any cost," he says.
For the United States, the Asia trip is particularly about securing better trade agreements, although Trump himself has not clearly highlighted this.
According to Gåsemyr, it is largely the advisors around the president who are working to put this on the agenda.
– Much more complicated
ASEAN is a Southeast Asian cooperation organization that works to promote economic, political, security policy and cultural cooperation between its ten member countries.
The first thing Trump did after landing at the airport and dancing a little was to make sure that an expanded ceasefire agreement with Thailand and Cambodia was signed.
He himself wrote this on Truth Social about his own ambitions:
I am on my way to Malaysia, where I will sign the great peace agreement that I proudly brokered between Cambodia and Thailand.
His role in this is disputed.
The agreement builds on a ceasefire reached three months ago, after Trump urged the country's leaders to end hostilities - or risk putting their respective trade talks with Washington on hold.
But a lasting peace agreement between the two countries is still a long way off, a political scientist told CNN.
The US president wanted to take credit for peace, but the agreement signed on Sunday was not a final peace agreement, says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
– President Trump wants a quick victory. But on the ground level, it's much more complicated.
Acid test
Shortly before the long flight to Kuala Lumpur, Trump announced, among other things, increased tariffs on Canada and claimed that he had helped end as many as eight conflicts.
CNN commentator Betsy Klein writes that the Asia tour is a test of his deal-making abilities.
Donald Trump is meeting old rivals, new friends and potential adversaries, while trying to make deals that could have far-reaching economic and national security consequences, she writes.
But Trump's penchant for tariffs has created uncertainty among US allies in the region, so this trip will be a major test of whether the author of The Art of the Deal can deliver.
The Nupi researcher points out that several countries, including Norway, have learned that it pays to attend events that give Trump honor and attention.
– Asia is important to the US anyway, even though it may not always sound like it when Trump speaks. But US policy seems to and is often driven by mood and fluctuations, while China has a far more calculated and strategic approach, says Gåsemyr.
He does not believe in a detailed trade agreement anytime soon.
– We have seen signals that a trade agreement may be coming, but I wouldn't put too much faith in it being particularly comprehensive now. I don't think China is either. There are large and complex interests at stake, he says.
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- United States
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