The Iran War has eclipsed most of Trump’s other foreign policy priorities, faced with an intensifying conflict and disruptions to the global oil supply, which has threatened to raise prices in the US.

Trump said he had proposed the delay solely to make sure he was around to manage the war.

“I’m looking forward to being with him,” he said, referring to Xi. “We have a very good relationship.”

“There’s no tricks to it either,” Trump added. “It’s very simple. We’ve got a war going on. I think it’s important that I be here.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that the meeting’s delay would not be due to Washington’s request that Beijing help in the Gulf, or any trade disagreements.

Bessent said: “The President wants to remain in DC to coordinate the war effort… Travelling abroad at a time like this may not be optimal.”

The latest development comes a day after Trump told the Financial Times that he might postpone the meeting if China did not help unblock the Strait of Hormuz – a critical waterway for the Gulf’s energy shipments.

He also called on other nations to help ships transit safely through the channel.

Trump’s remarks come as frictions between the world’s two largest economies have grown, fuelled by the Iran war.

Beijing is a major buyer of Iranian energy exports and has criticised the US and Israeli strikes against the country.

Washington also announced it would investigate trade practices among a list of countries, including China, after Trump’s signature tariff policy was struck down by the Supreme Court in February.

Representatives from the US and China have met in Paris in recent days for negotiations, such as over investments, tariffs and economic sanctions.

The sides reached consensus on some issues and will carry on with negotiations, Chinese trade representative Li Chenggang was quoted as saying in state media outlet Xinhua on Monday.

US representatives briefed their Chinese counterparts on changes to Washington’s tariff measures, said Li.

Chinese negotiators expressed “serious concern” about Washington’s plans to probe the country’s trade practices and urged the US to maintain economic stability, he said.

“We’re at war,” Ecuadorean Interior Minister John Reimberg told residents of the provinces of El Oro, Guayas, Los Ríos and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.

“Don’t take any risks, don’t go out, stay at home,” he added.

Ecuador’s geographical location – sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest producers of cocaine – has turned it into a key transit country for the illicit drug.

Around 70% of the cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru is estimated to be shipped through Ecuador.

Noboa’s government has been working with the administration of US President Donald Trump to quell the flow of cocaine from Ecuador to the US.

Last week, the FBI opened its first office in the Andean country, a move which came shortly after the two countries launched joint counter-narcotic operations.

Noboa was one of the Latin American leaders to attend an international meeting hosted by Trump in Mar-a-Lago, which the US authorities dubbed the “Shield of the Americas” summit.

At the summit, Trump likened criminal gangs to a “cancer” and urged his Latin American counterparts to use military force to root them out.

“We don’t want it spreading,” Trump added.

Following the meeting, Noboa posted a photo on social media of himself standing next to Trump with the words: “For too long, the mafias thought that America was their territory. That they could cross borders, move drugs, guns and [spread] violence without consequences. Their time has run out.”

Since coming to office, Noboa has tried to combat criminal organisations in his country with an iron fist and has declared several states of emergency but nevertheless the murder rate rose by over 30% between 2024 and 2025.

[BBC]