The Latest: Trump, Xi having tea at start of China visit

The two sides are starting two days of meetings that will be centred on trade and the North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Both men were joined by their wives.

2:38 p.m.

President Donald Trump is making his first official visit to China amid regional tensions on trade and North Korea.

Trump landed in Beijing on Wednesday following events in South Korea. He is scheduled to meet multiple times with China’s President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) during the two-day visit.

Xi was treating Trump to a lavish welcoming ceremony and tour of the Forbidden City, home to China’s ancient imperial palaces. The visit comes hours after Trump addressed South Korea’s National Assembly and pressured China to stop supporting North Korea.

Trump made equalizing trade with China a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. But he has signalled that he may ease up in exchange for China’s help with North Korea.

China is the third stop on Trump’s Asia tour. The trip opened in Japan.

1 p.m.

President Donald Trump has paid his respects at Seoul National Cemetery in South Korea.

Trump was greeted at the cemetery by crowds waving U.S. and South Korean flags. Trump and his wife, Melania, walked slowly toward a tall granite monument and watched as an honour guard positioned a wreath of white carnations. The president and first lady then donned white gloves to sprinkle handfuls of incense into a cauldron that began to smoke gently.

They bowed their heads as four trumpets sounded mournfully.

Trump visited the cemetery after delivering an address to South Korean lawmakers about the threat posed by North Korea.

12:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump is telling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the weapons he’s acquiring are putting his nation in “grave danger.”

Trump delivered that message during a speech Wednesday to South Korean lawmakers in Seoul.

Trump says to Kim that the nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles he’s acquiring “are not making you safer” but “are putting your regime in grave danger.”

Kim has threatened the U.S. and its regional allies, including Japan and South Korea, with multiple weapons tests this year.

Trump recently vowed to “totally destroy” North Korea if its threats continue.

11:55 a.m.

President Donald Trump is using a speech in front of the South Korean National Assembly to talk about one of his golf courses.

Trump is reminding lawmakers in the National Assembly hall on Wednesday that when the U.S. Women’s Open was held at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, earlier this year, many South Korean players did well.

The winner, Park Sung-hyun, was South Korean — as were a number of other top finishers.

Trump has been criticized by ethics experts for failing to completely divest his assets and using the presidency to promote his hotels and golf clubs and enrich himself.

11:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump is delivering a blunt warning to North Korea: “Do not underestimate us. And do not try us.”

Trump is sending the message during a speech Wednesday in Seoul to South Korea’s National Assembly.

The president says the U.S. will not allow its cities to be threatened with destruction. He says it also won’t be intimidated by threats from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump says the world cannot tolerate the “menace” of a rogue regime that threatens it with nuclear devastation. He’s urging all “responsible nations” to unite to deny North Korea any form of support or acceptance.

A day earlier, Trump signalled a willingness to negotiate. He urged North Korea to “come to the table” and “make a deal” over its nuclear weapons program.

11:45 a.m.

President Donald Trump is painting a bleak portrait of North Korea in a keynote speech to South Korean lawmakers.

Trump says life under the leadership of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is “so bleak” that North Koreans bribe government officials to leave the country so they can work as slaves.

Says Trump: “They would rather be slaves than live in North Korea.”

Trump is contrasting life in the two Koreas – the democratic South and the communist North. He notes that South Korea’s economy is booming while in North Korea families live in homes without plumbing and that fewer than half of the population has electricity.

South Korea is the second stop on Trump’s five-country tour of Asia.

11:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump is telling South Korea’s National Assembly that he wants “peace through strength.”

The U.S. president is addressing South Korean lawmakers on the second day of his visit. He is noting that the U.S. is rebuilding its military and spending heavily on the newest and finest military equipment.

Trump is calling for an international response to North Korea’s nuclear threat.

11:15 a.m.

South Korean police have separated pro- and anti-Trump protesters who scuffled outside Seoul’s National Assembly shortly before the visiting U.S. president made a speech to the country’s lawmakers.

South Korean police couldn’t immediately confirm on Wednesday whether there were any injuries. Thousands of officers were deployed at the National Assembly in Seoul to provide security and monitor the protesters.

A small American flag was seen burning on the ground beside a sign that read “No Trump No War” near the scene.

Anti-Trump demonstrators have accused Trump of raising animosity with North Korea with his fiery rhetoric. Trump’s supporters have embraced his tough stance against Pyongyang.

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9:15 a.m.

The White House says President Donald Trump is disappointed that his surprise trip to the DMZ was thwarted by bad weather.

Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tells reporters, “I think he’s pretty frustrated” that he had to change his plans.

Marine One had flown most of the way from Seoul to the DMZ before turning due to poor weather conditions. Weather reports from near the DMZ showed misting conditions and visibility below one mile.

Trump had been scheduled to visit the border that for 64 years has separated the North and South with Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The White House says Trump’s trip to the DMZ had been planned well before he left for Asia, but it was kept secret due to security concerns.

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8:59 a.m.

President Donald Trump has scrapped a surprise visit to the Korean demilitarized zone due to poor weather.

Marine One flew most of the way from Seoul to the DMZ before turning back due to poor weather conditions.

Back at the U.S. Army’s Yongsan Garrison, Trump prepared for his speech to South Korea’s National Assembly while awaiting a potential clearing in the weather.

Weather reports from near the DMZ showed misting conditions and visibility below one mile.

Every American president since Ronald Reagan has made a trip to the DMZ — except for George H.W. Bush, who made the trek when he served as vice-president. Before Trump’s trip, a White House official had said the DMZ visits have become “a little bit of a cliché.”

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9 p.m.

President Donald Trump is hinting at a surprise announcement as he prepares to depart South Korea.

Trump says during a toast at a state dinner being held in his honour in Seoul Tuesday that, “we’re going to have an exciting day tomorrow for many reasons” that “people will find out.”

Trump is also telling attendees that the partnership between the U.S. and South Korea has never been stronger, as the threat of the North and its nuclear program looms.

Trump says: “we’ve been proud to stand by your side for many decades as an unwavering friend and a loyal ally.” And he says South Korea has “never had a time where this ally has been more loyal or stood by your side more than right now.”

7:10 p.m.

South Korea’s presidential office says U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have agreed to open “working-level” discussions between the countries over South Korea’s potential acquisition of nuclear-propelled submarines.

Moon’s office says Trump and Moon also discussed South Korea’s possible acquisition of unspecified reconnaissance assets to better cope against North Korean threats.

Moon said after his meeting with Trump that the two leaders agreed to co-operate on strengthening South Korea’s defence capabilities through the acquisition or development of advanced weapons systems.

South Korean government officials have been endorsing the nation getting nuclear-powered submarines amid calls for more military strength. There’s a growing concern among the South Korean public that North Korea’s expanding nuclear weapons arsenal, which may soon include an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the U.S. mainland, would undermine Seoul’s decadeslong alliance with Washington.

5:49 p.m.

President Donald Trump says North Korea’s leader is “threatening millions and millions of lives so needlessly.”

Trump is speaking at a joint press conference in Seoul on Tuesday with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in.

Trump says North Korea’s missile launches “are a threat, not only to the people of South Korea, but to the people all across the globe.”

The US president is calling for “worldwide action” in response to North Korea. He says that “every responsible nation, including China and Russia” should push for an end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

5:48 p.m.

South Korea’s president says he and President Donald Trump are “strongly urging” North Korea to return to a negotiating table on its nuclear and missile programs.

President Moon Jae-in says at a joint news conference with Trump on Tuesday that he and Trump agreed to apply maximized pressures and sanctions on North Korea until it returns to “sincere” talks on disarming its nuclear and missile programs.

5:47 p.m.

South Korea’s president says he and President Donald Trump have finalized an earlier agreement to allow South Korea to possess more powerful missiles in the face of growing North Korean threats.

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday the two have agreed on lifting the warhead payload limits on South Korean ballistic missiles. He says they’re also co-operating on strengthening South Korea’s defence capabilities through the acquisition or development of advanced weapons systems.

Moon says Trump also reaffirmed the “iron-clad” U.S. security commitment for South Korea during a joint news conference with the American leader on Wednesday.

Trump is in South Korea as the second leg of his first visit to Asia.

5:46 p.m.

South Korea’s leader says he and President Donald Trump have agreed to place maximized pressures and sanctions on North Korea to peacefully defuse a standoff caused by the North’s weapons programs.

But President Moon Jae-in says Tuesday that he and Trump also reaffirmed they are ready to provide North Korea with a “bright future” if the country gives ups its nuclear and missile programs.

Moon made the comments after summit talks with Trump at the South Korean presidential office of Blue House on Tuesday. Trump arrived in South Korea earlier Tuesday as the second leg of his first Asian tour.

5:45 p.m.

President Donald Trump says “good progress” is happening on North Korea as he urges Pyongyang to “come to the table” and “make a deal.”

Trump is speaking at a joint news conference in Seoul with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in. Amid rising tensions with North Korea, he says: “it makes sense for North Korea to do the right thing.”

The president is not offering specifics on the type of progress being made. But Trump says it “really makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal.” He added that “I do see certain movement,” but did not offer specifics.

4:59 p.m.

President Donald Trump is beginning his two-day Korean peninsula visit walking amid weapons of war but voicing optimism for peace.

His every move will be closely watched from both sides of Korea’s demilitarized zone.

Trump has repeatedly delivered combative warnings to Pyongyang as he urged it to abandon its nuclear program.

But as he began his two-day South Korean visit just three dozen miles from the heavily-fortified DMZ, he initially struck a different, more hopeful tone.

He declared that “it always works out. Has to work out.”

That echoed the sentiment of his tweet hours earlier, when he left Japan for South Korea, the second stop of his lengthy Asian trip. It is centred on pressuring North Korean dictator Kim Jong to abandon his weapons program.