Good evening. I'm Nick Schifrin. John Yang is away.

Tonight, President Donald Trump is predicting he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign a, quote,

comprehensive trade deal during Mr. Trump's first visit to Asia since returning to the White House.

The high-stakes trip comes as the president faces a constellation of international challenges

from the relationship between the world's two largest

economies to trying to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

On his way to Asia, President Trump made a pit stop in Doha to greet Qatari leaders who helped

broker the Gaza ceasefire.

And you have a safe Middle East right there.

And you're going to keep it that way for all the time.

But what lies ahead is perhaps the single most important meeting of his new term with

Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

President Trump says he's looking to make a trade deal to avoid threaten 157 percent tariffs.

The U.S. wants Beijing to buy more American soybeans.

There are also tensions over technology, critical minerals, and Taiwan.

But the U.S. will not walk away from Taiwan in pursuit of a Chinese trade deal, Secretary

of State Marco Rubio said tonight.

You need to make concessions to get a deal.

Are you willing to pause there?

They have to make concessions.

I guess we would, too. The president says he has no plans to repeat his high-profile meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un,

but that he'd be willing to meet.

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