As Donald Trump grew increasingly frustrated with diplomatic efforts to end the war with Iran, administration officials were closely watching whether the president’s trip to China — a nation with close ties to Tehran — would yield a significant breakthrough.
But Trump landed stateside Friday with seemingly no progress to report.
Speaking to reporters on his journey back to Washington, the US president claimed Chinese leader Xi Jinping said he would like the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened and that he agrees Iran should not develop a nuclear weapon. But those were statements China had made previously.
“He would like to see it end. He would like to help. If he wants to help, that’s great. But we don’t need help,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier about his Chinese counterpart in an interview airing Friday.
Several administration officials said they wanted to see how the talks between Trump and Xi played out before determining a path forward on Iran.
