President Trump is set to make one of his longest international trips thus far.
His wife, First Lady Melania Trump will be joining him.
They both started the trip by landing on the tarmac in Hawaii before connecting to their
flights to other parts of Asia.
They were greeted with leis at the Hickam Air Force Base by a few people.
Those include Hawaii Governor David Ige and U.S. Navy Admiral Harry Harris who is the
commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.
The trip will include stops in five various Asian countries.
This will be the first trip that is taken in the Asian Pacific.
That is since President Trump took office.
The goal of the trip is to attend the East Asia Summit that is taking place in the Philippines.
While in Hawaii the President announced he would be staying an extra day in Hawaii.
President Trump said,
"We're staying an extra day, because the following day is actually the most important
day."
He also announced an additional meeting would be included that was scheduled to end the
day the forum began for leaders of various East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian
regions and their respective countries.
USA Newsflash reported,
"A major topic of discussion during his trip will be North Korea's nuclear threat,
and a final decision is expected to be made during or after the trip.
This Friday, President Trump will be taking part in a briefing at Pacific Command, before
touring the U.S.S.
Arizona Memorial to Pearl Harbor.
He also took it to Twitter to reveal that he was looking forward to "meeting with
our great military/veterans at Pearl Harbor.""
In the past, international trips for President Trump have gone well.
When visiting the Middle East his relationship with Saudi Arabia and Israel were cemented
and he established a good relationship between the administration and the respective countries.
Despite reported tensions President Trump had immensely productive meetings and trips
in Europe with the British Prime Minister, the French President Emmanuel Macron, and
the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
His work in the Asian Pacific will likely be just as productive."
CNN took a much grimmer look at the trip reporting the following,
"Donald Trump's national security adviser issued a stark warning the day before the
President left Washington for a critical swing through Asia: "We're running out of time."
The risk of military confrontation with North Korea appears to only grow by the week.
North Korea is quietly, but aggressively, working to advance its intercontinental ballistic
missile program to reach the United States with a nuclear warhead.
And while the US, its allies and even its adversaries agree more must be done — and
quickly — there is no clear consensus on how to proceed.
That sobering backdrop makes Trump's 13-day trip through the region — where he will
meet with key players and get a firsthand view of the North Korean nuclear threat — the
United States' best chance to stave off a crisis that is threatening to embroil the
US in its first major war in Asia since the Vietnam War.
While there is little expectation that Trump will return to Washington having cracked the
code to stopping North Korea's advance, he is under considerable pressure to deliver
a clear and consistent message on the US approach to the North Korean crisis.
He needs to rally US allies and intends to crank up more pressure on China to change
its isolated neighbor's course.
And, as Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster warned, the clock is ticking.
CNN learned earlier this week that North Korea is working on an advanced version of its existing
KN-20 intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially reach the United States,
and it is entirely possible that next year, Pyongyang could master the technology to tip
such a missile with a miniaturized warhead.
That means that the current visit could be the last trip by a US president to see the
region's leaders face to face before that fateful threshold is crossed."
One thing that CNN is right about is the fact that this tip is a tremendous opportunity
for the administration and the United States to cement and secure their Asian allies in
the effort and work towards defeating the despotic North Korean Kim regime.
We need allies over on this side of the world now more than ever and we must do everything
in our power to ensure we are as backed up as possible.
Having South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan just is not enough anymore.
Southeast Asia will be critical in the war against any type of nuclear power and quelling
China's influence and power will be even more difficult.
Share if you believe President Trump is doing the right thing by taking the North Korean
threat seriously.
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