NewsNation National Correspondent Robert Sherman has found himself on the frontlines of some of the world’s biggest stories: from Ukraine to Israel and across the United States. He shares what he’s seeing on the ground. Subscribe to his newsletter: Frontlines with Robert Sherman here.
(NewsNation) — Greetings from South Korea.
Today I’m writing to you from Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Korea’s Silla Dynasty, as another chapter of the history books is preparing to be penned.
A big day is upon us. The two heads of state representing the two most powerful economies in the world are set to meet face-to-face within the next few hours. The two sides hope to strike a trade deal. President Donald Trump is confident they’re on the doorstep of getting an agreement done.
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“I think we’re going to have a deal. I think it will be a good deal for both. And that’s really a great result. That’s better than fighting, and going through all sorts of problems,” Trump said, addressing the crowd at APEC Wednesday.
It is true that the trade negotiations between the US and China have been some of the most tense and consequential since the president took office earlier this year. Tariffs and retaliatory measures have at times brought commerce between the two nations to a practical halt.
Major issues still remaining between China, US
And there are still sore subjects. The president has criticized China for their punitive measures on American soybean crops. September marked the first time since 2018 China imported zero soybeans from the United States.
Rare earth minerals and Chinese export controls on them? A key issue.
TikTok? Unresolved, but significant.
NVIDIA? The company hit a $5 trillion market cap today and continues to grow despite the fact they have effectively been pushed out of the Chinese market due to tense trade relations between the two nations.
“We've taken China out of our forecast,” NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang explained. “We are currently shipping zero dollars. Our market share has gone from 95% to zero, which is very, very, very disappointing. But nonetheless, were currently assuming China is going to be 0% of our business. And if it comes back if President Trump was able to negotiate or if China would like us to come back to China, it's going to be a huge bonus for us."
There are a lot of big issues at play here and, as you can imagine, the stakes are high. A trade deal would impact millions of Americans in sectors such as tech, manufacturing, and agriculture.
South Korea facing demonstrations this week
But it’s not just the United States watching all of this carefully. This week, here in South Kore,a we have seen demonstrations across the country. Some anti-Trump sentiment stems from anger over the tariff policies some here believe are hurting the South Korean economy. But other demonstrations are pro-Trump/anti-China, believing Chinese influence over the region is dangerous. We’ve seen quite a few American flags waving at some of these demonstrations this week.
And then, of course, there’s a wildcard to the North in Pyongyang. President Trump has floated the idea of meeting with Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
"I just had a good relationship with him," Trump said Monday. "I would love to see him, if he wants to, if he even gets this message. We haven't mentioned anything, but he knows I'm going over there. If he'd like to meet, I'd love to meet him."
Could Trump meet with Kim Jong Un?
In 2019, President Trump became the first U.S. President to enter North Korea during a surprise visit to the DMZ.
The North Korean leader has been publicly warm to the idea, but is also making clear he is not interested in denuclearization. Just this week, North Korea has carried out a series of missile tests.
Kim said he still holds “good personal memories” of Trump from their first meetings and that there is “no reason not to” resume talks with the United States if Washington “abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearization.”
Both sides are preparing to keep the lines of communication open, though meeting on this trip may prove logistically difficult.
Nevertheless, the president has some momentum as he continues his blitz through Asia, inking trade deals in Southeast Asia, Japan and most recently here in South Korea.
The big piece on the board, China, is still in play. And the unknown variable of the equation, North Korea, is still nearby.
More to come today.
As an aside, we’re less than 50 days away from the release of my book, “Lessons From the Front.” I’m overwhelmed by the surge we’ve seen this week with so much news coming out of the Middle East, and I humbly thank you for that. For those still interested in preordering, you can do so through Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Bloomsbury.