Trump Heads to Asia With an Ambitious Agenda but Little to Offer

The only thing grueling about this trip is how grueling it will be for the American public to be forced to read about daily twitters from the king of kings Trump regarding how great he looks standing tall in Asia..... God help us all with this hump at the helm of our nuclear codes....

11-days, five-nations, 100 rounds of golf

Good Grief Charlie Brown, What defeatist is writing this stuff ? If they had been in charge of war press releases in WW2 we would have voted to appease Adolph.

And what leverage did Obama have and how did he use it? Are we to assume that the TPP would have increased our influence? In what way? Just by being part of a group and giving up whatever advantage you had on your own? Obama negotiated it the same way he negotiated the Iran deal. Do we now have greater influence with Iran? The European countries that participated had a financial interest. What interest of ours did we serve by sealing the deal with a 1.7 billion cash payment no strings attached? You don't get leverage just by agreeing. You have to show you are willing to walk away if you don't get what you want. That's how you preserve your position, but Obama only made America the world's chump. He did alright for himself, though, with all his book deals and speaking fees. He also is able to portray himself as the world's savior and bask in the adulation of his addled fan club. Too bad he didn't serve America's interests very well when he was President.

Mr. Russel how dare you state that anything DT does compares to the Bataan Death March. My cousin and a friends father both fortunately survived said march. Both suffered the consequences, being shot, malaria, starvation and torture. What DT is subjected to does not compare. Will never compare. Oh how hard he works on the golf course, in front of the television, typing frantic nonsense and threats on twitter. The king has no clothes. Again, how dare you with your statement.

The least of my worries is if he can hold up. As long as he has access to fast food, Diet Coke, Twitter, and Fox News, he'll have all the energy he needs.

trump thinks that because he plays golf with Abe or others, or invites them to his fancy clubs, that he therefore has a personal relationship. Little does he know how meaningless that is. It inly sets Abe, Xi and others up to play him, which they no doubt will do.

Ambitious agenda? Who are you kidding? After Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Trump gases up Air Force One and plants his 270 pound load into a well cushioned seat... to do what? Send out 20 tweets on how great his mojo is? Maybe when he gets to Asia, he can shove Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the back like he did to Prime Minsiter Duško Markovic during that photo op a few months ago at a NATO summit. That's the ticket - try that form of negotiation and see how far that gets you, Trump. Any and every chance America had to secure strong trade partnership with Asian and other countries has gone out the window with Trump at the helm of our foreign policy. Here's some fake news just for you, base: after this trip, headlines in the Post and NY Times will read: "Trump leads the way to form new partnerships across the globe."

“Either one would be pretty ambitious. Jammed together, they form a kind of Bataan Death March.” Let us count the ways in which this is a deeply offensive comment. For starters, Mr. Trump opted to structure the trip this way; the 76,000 forced to march in Luzon had no opportunity to exercise choice. Mr. Trump will travel in complete comfort, his every need met by someone assigned to tasks from cooking to briefing to hair care to translating to suitcase lugging. Those who were forced to march on Luzon were starved, beaten, beheaded, bayoneted, exposed to blistering sun and heat without water. Of course, the athletic young Mr. Trump avoided military service with a diagnosis of bone spurs, thus being spared the rigors of boot camp and the potential sacrifice that comes with serving one's country. As Khizr Khan, a Gold Star father, noted in addressing Mr. Trump, “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.” That seems to be Mr. Trump's modus operandi: Sacrifice nothing, yet find your overseas trip described as 'grueling.' Please. If he stubs his toe replacing a divot, let us know.

Budding personal relationship? If we have to send a Trump to visit Xi Jinping then it should be Ivana - she's clearly a better negotiator and has no illusions about her competency, and as far as Vietnam is concerned she may not have the spurs, but she can certainly wear heels

Grueling? Seriously? Because a Twitter employee shut down his personal twitter account and he's going to have to apply pen to paper to express his insults? Also is anyone else watching Designated Survivor wishing Kiefer Sutherland's Presidential character who is kind, intelligent, educated, eloquent, balanced and a humanitarian was actually our President?

In China they will be asking more about his daughter Ivanka, her family and why she isn't there with him. The Chinese are obsessed with her.

It's just a question of when, not if, he vomits all over the remains of the historic role America has played in Asia in the post WWII period. Watch, if you look closely, that's China zooming past us in every important aspect of Asian relationships and politics. Japan and China have strong, experienced, popular leaders. We've got Trump. Nuff said.

If he tweets, it'll be his staff. The jet lag will do him in. He'll pull a Rex Tillerson and send someone in his place or cancel so he can sleep....international customs - forget it. Or he can tweet at 3AM Asia time as that's when the jet lag kicks in when trying to sleep overnight in Asia.

"Little to offer"? You can do that right here at home.

Maybe trump and his generals can meet jointly wth Putin and Duterte, to exchange info on how fascism works!

Good luck, Donald. Keep your head down and don't embarrass us and don't start a war, k?

Indo-Pacific No doubt this may give India the authority and clout to assert its rights to assure a sense of order in a rough neighborhood.

Grueling. Good to see he won't let it affect his golfing with Abe

I hope someone takes Trump's cellphone out of his hands before he lands in Asia, and gives it back when he takes off again.

here is an opportunity for foreign reporters to grill Mr. Trump on all his lies, deceits, and war strategies. In addition, they can grill him on Russia and his collusion for election hacking. Their objective should be to expose him with no fear.

Does ANYONE have respect for this guy anymore? He should have stayed home and golfed...

I don't really understand the comparison to the Bataan Death March. Is this a misguided attempt at humor? Long Asian trip=Bataan Death March? Um, not funny. If the President is up for the trip, why is he being condemned?

Memory of WW2 is fading, Vietnam war not so much and Vietnamese in their heart of hearts don't care for USA, Japan needs America now, since they fear China. India is India and all those countries are ancient cultures, we are intruders and that is the long game. I hope Europe play the "long" game too and stay the cultural and prosperous western end station of the "silk road". Flip Russia, bring Iran & India into the family and Pakistan will choose to follow suit. Leaves USA with Israel, the 7 Kingdoms and Saudi + South America. Will be fine with Europe , can trade 360 degrees. Contain China? Not a chance!!

The leader of a declining and divided America is going to meet with a powerful leader from a rising China, what do we expect? The experts and China hands during the Bush and Obama administrations helped China to become stronger and better country. Trump will learn something from this trip and will be helpful for his decision making process regarding China and Asia.

Mr. Trump, Your own behavior is causing you problems. Other leaders want a predictable partner. Your constant lurching from one side to the other, means those leaders don't feel that can trust you. They also don't want their discussions showing up on Twitter, again your own behavior is causing problems. They expect someone who they meet with will be knowledgeable about their country and its problems. You however, have the attention span of a gnat and apparently limited reading skills. This limits your effectiveness. Lastly there is your gullibility. You were overawed by the display of wealth and fawning put on by Saudi Arabia, a country who is not our friend. Rather than hold them accountable for past actions and demanding they refrain from future provocations, you gave them a free pass. Mr. Trump, if you want American foreign policy to be effective, stay home. Spend your time on meaningless things like the NFL protests and Hillary.

This trip should be very interesting. Look for the seating arrangements and watch the faces of trump's aides and the business men he's dragging along. All of them hoping to get a piece of the Asian markets. The Japanese and the Chinese are no fools. They have been watching the president's behavior since day one. They are quite aware of who they are dealing with.

Donald Trump, is travelling to Vietnam? Wow. I'm so glad to see that his "Bone Spurs" have finally healed. But wasn't Venereal Disease, his own personal Vietnam?

Trump brings his unpredictable attitude and expects open arms and billions for his fellow business leaders. Out of spite he withdrew from the TPP, alienating everyone, but his ignorant followers back in the USA. A few pics, and some real spin and his supporters will never know the difference!! Oh well.....we have ceded leadership to China, who will now us in a very short period of time Thank you Republicans!

How can Trump go to Vietnam? He has heel spurs.

I suspect he'll hold up. He gets so much exercise on his weekly golf trips if only from wandering around the tarmac.

Despite all the talk about trade, the real goal of this visit for Trump and his foreign policy advisers is to establish and build upon relationships that will need to be strong when the moment arrives to militarily confront North Korea.

By now the Asian leaders know that the American president is someone that cannot be trusted in either word or deed. They can sit by idly and watch our government weaken America by dismantling education and healthcare, investing in coal rather than 21st-century energy and ballooning the deficit with tax cuts for the rich instead of restoring crumbling infrastructure. Trump will be greeted warmly by the Asian leaders, but not for the reasons he thinks.

Mr. Trump will get polite reception but no success on N Korea. His decision like pulling out of TPP has turned South East Asians lukewarm to American policy.TPP is being negotiated among rest of the countries without USA. This will confirm the view that countries can move ahead without US involvement, be it climate change or trade deals. President Trump's meetings will turn out to be phot op rather than substantative. No doubt the spin masters will give nice narrative.

Through this so-called leader's words and actions his empty suit is fraying by the day. He has endangered people here and around the world. No amount of his flim-flam will change their minds to this reality.