Trump to skip key Asia summit in Philippines to go home earlier
By Josh Rogin October 24 at 12:26 PM
Leaders of more than a dozen countries will meet for a major summit in the Philippines in mid-November, but President Trump won’t be there. He is planning to skip it and leave the Philippines the day before. It’s a bad signal to send to the region, and it could undermine the overall goal of his Asia tour by calling American regional leadership into question.
At the White House Monday, Trump said he will “probably” be visiting the Philippines as part of his 12-day trip to Asia early next month. A National Security Council spokesman told me Trump will be in Manila Nov. 12 and 13 and will meet with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and others. But Trump will not travel the additional 52 miles to the Filipino city of Angeles on Nov. 14 for the East Asia Summit, an annual conference of Asian and world leaders that focuses on the strategic future of the region.
“The President’s trip to Asia is extremely lengthy and will be his longest to date – his return to the U.S. on the evening of Nov. 13 is entirely schedule-driven,” the spokesman said. “You should not read anything into his being absent on the 14th.” The East Asia Summit opens in Angeles on Nov. 13, but the major events with world leaders occur on Nov. 14. But the region is sure to read a lot into Trump’s absence, according to experts and former officials. By not attending the East Asia Summit his first year in office, even though he will already be nearby, Trump is signaling a lack of interest in the organization and the project it represents.
“It is a big deal. The Obama administration made a point of investing in these regional institutions in order to demonstrate we are an Asia Pacific power, a resident power in the region. This will only raise more questions about American credibility,” said Derek Mitchell, former U.S. ambassador to Burma. “Multilateralism in Asia is often just about showing up, but even that appears to be hard for him.”
Multiple administration officials told me there was a lengthy debate inside the Trump administration about the summit, but officials close to Trump were concerned the president did not want to stay in the region for so long and worried he could get cranky, leading to unpredictable or undiplomatic behavior.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/10/24/trump-to-skip-key-asia-summit-in-philippines-to-go-home-earlier
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Toddlers get cranky when you take them out of their environment for too long. Then they throw tantrums and that's never fun to deal with. 
