President Biden arrives in Peru for an international summit and meeting with Xi as world leaders brace for Trump

LIMA, Peru — President Joe Biden arrived in Peru on Thursday to begin his six-day visit to Latin America for the last major international summits of his presidency, even as world leaders turn their attention to what Donald Trump’s returning to the White House means for their countries.

The visit to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru and stops in the Amazon rainforest and at the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Brazil, offer Biden one of his last chances as president to meet with the heads of state he has worked with over the years.

But the eyes of world leaders are firmly on Trump.

They already are Setting Trump’s phone on fire with congratulations. At least one leader, the South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, is dusting his golf clubs, in case the opportunity arises to bond with the golf-loving Trump.

White House officials emphasize that Biden’s visits will be substantial, with discussions on climate issues, global infrastructure, counter-narcotics efforts and one-on-one meetings with world leaders. including Chinese President Xi Jinpingand a joint meeting with Yoon of South Korea and the Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

The meeting with Yoon and Ishiba would aim to consolidate the progress made since they met first meeting last yearWhite House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Air Force One. That includes strengthening security and economic cooperation amid increasingly tense relations with China and North Korea.

It would also be an opportunity for them to discuss North Korean troops going to Russia to help with the war in Ukraine, Sullivan said.

He says the Biden administration is working to ensure the three-nation meeting becomes “an enduring part of U.S. policy.” He expects this to continue under Trump, given bipartisan support, but acknowledges that this is up to the new president’s team.

Biden’s South American trip comes a day after he met Trump at the White House. This broad discussion was about the conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine.

“I wanted – I asked – for his views, and he gave them to me,” Trump said told The New York Post after his conversation with Biden.

Sullivan indicated that White House officials are also making clear to Trump’s team that the delicate U.S.-China relationship is the “first priority for the new administration.”

He emphasized the risks if stability in the Taiwan Strait is disrupted: “that would be catastrophic for everyone involved – for Taiwan, for Beijing, for us, for the world,” he said. “Because of the magnitude of the risk, even if it is not very likely, it is something that has to be at the top of the agenda.”

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and promises to annex it – by force if necessary. The US is Taiwan’s largest unofficial ally and is legally obligated to give the island the means to defend itself.

Trump nominates noted Chinese hawks for key positions: Senator Marco Rubio of Florida for Secretary of State and Florida Representative Mike Waltz for his national security advisor.

The White House had been working for months to arrange the meeting with Xi, whose country is the United States’ most prominent economic and national security rival.

For Xi, Trump’s campaign promise to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports will be paramount. White House officials avoided commenting in detail on how Biden will approach conversations with Xi and other world leaders about Trump.

Those officials say Biden will also use the summits to pressure allies to maintain support for Ukraine as it tries to fend off. The invasion of Russia and not lose sight of the end of the wars in Lebanon and Gaza. That includes bringing home hostages held by Hamas for more than thirteen months.

Between summits, Biden will visit the Amazon rainforest, the first visit by a sitting US president.

James Bosworth, founder of Latin America-focused political consultancy Hxagon, said Biden will use one of his last big moments in the international spotlight “to reassure the world that transfers of power are normal for democracies.”

“Biden will receive public applause and praise, even as world leaders nervously await the transition,” Bosworth said.

Biden’s meeting with Xi will likely be the most consequential moment during the US president’s stay in South America.

Biden has sought to maintain a steady relationship with Xi even as the U.S. government has repeatedly expressed concern about what it sees as malign action by Beijing.

U.S. intelligence officials have assessed that China has increased sales to Russia enormously of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow uses to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use against Ukraine. The Biden administration last month imposed sanctions on two Chinese companies accused of directly helping Russia build drones for long-range strikes.

Tensions flared last year after Biden ordered the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon flying across the intercontinental United States. And the Biden administration has criticized Chinese military assertiveness toward Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.

During the campaign, Trump talked about his personal bond with Xi, which started off well during the Republican’s first term before coming under strain over disputes over trade and the origins of COVID-19.

In a congratulatory message to Trump, Xi called on the US and China to manage their differences and get along in a new era, Chinese state media said.

Biden finds himself in a similar position to when then-President Barack Obama traveled to Peru for the annual meeting of APEC leaders in 2016, shortly after Trump’s first victory in the White House.

World leaders bombarded Obama with questions about Trump’s victory.

“His message was to wait and see… because we didn’t know Donald Trump,” said Victor Cha, a National Security Council official in the George W. Bush administration. “Now we are in a very different situation where we do know what the first Trump administration looked like.”

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Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.