U.S. President Donald Trump said he had done “a really fantastic job” on a five-nation tour of Asia in which he had made a lot of friends, but he ended it abruptly on Tuesday by skipping most of a Philippine summit. Mr. Trump, who began his journey in Japan 12 days ago, said his trip had seen progress in his goal of narrowing the U.S.’s trade deficits.
He also predicted that the already unveiled $300 billion worth of trade deals “is going to be quadrupled very quickly” to over a trillion dollars.
Mr. Trump had initially planned to skip East Asia Summit, the final set piece of his trip, then backtracked after criticism it could be seen as a snub.
But he did not stay for the official start of the summit on Tuesday afternoon, also missing the preceding group photo with his fellow leaders.
En route to Hawaii, Mr. Trump was bullish, predicting a rapid closing of American trade deficits.
“You will see numbers that you won’t believe over the years. Because over a period of years, they will be treating us much differently than they have in the past.”
