Trump Heads to Asia with a Weak Hand

“The president heads overseas during a time of what some experts see as a decline of U.S. influence in the region and they suggest that it is unlikely that Trump will be returning home with any clear wins,” NBC News reports.

“While Trump battles on multiple fronts and faces low approval ratings at home, some of the world leaders he will encounter on his swing through Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines find themselves emboldened — and playing with a home turf advantage. Chinese President Xi Jinping, for instance, has been buoyed in recent weeks by his further consolidation of power and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s political party enjoyed a landslide election victory last week.”

First Read: “Trump heads into this Asia trip carrying about as weak of a hand as we can remember for any president visiting Asia.”