Trump delays China trip over Iran war, backs Vance unity
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- Trump said he requested a roughly one-month delay to his 31 March Beijing summit with Xi Jinping, telling the Oval Office: "I have to be here … we got a war going on," despite calling his relationship with China "very good."
- Trump declined to predict the war's end this week but said victory would come "soon," even as Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint carrying 20% of global oil exports — and missile attacks have hit UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
- Trump publicly pressed British prime minister Keir Starmer to send ships and minesweepers into the Strait of Hormuz, calling Britain "the Rolls-Royce of allies" and mocking Starmer for wanting to "ask my team" before deciding.
- Trump said he was caught off guard that Iran struck Gulf states hosting US military bases, calling the UAE "like the banker for Iran" and insisting "no experts" would have predicted the attacks — even though those countries host US forces.
- Vance projected loyalty in his first joint Oval Office appearance with Trump in two weeks, crediting him as "a smart president" unlike "dumb presidents" of past wars, while Trump conceded Vance had been "philosophically … less enthusiastic" about the conflict.
- Vance signed an initiative he is leading to investigate alleged fraud in Minnesota during the same appearance, an unrelated domestic priority rolled into the war-focused event.
Why it matters: Trump is prioritizing management of a war he publicly claims is nearly won, postponing a summit with Xi that would have signaled diplomatic momentum on trade and great-power rivalry. The Oval Office performance with Vance is also a public repair job: by staging unity days after admitting Vance was "less enthusiastic" about Iran, Trump is shoring up the appearance of a coherent war cabinet even as he admits the conflict has not ended on his stated timeline.
