China's President Xi Jinping paid tribute to Vietnam's late revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh on Tuesday, his last day of a trip to Hanoi that President Donald Trump said was aiming to "screw" the United States.
Xi is in Vietnam as part of a Southeast Asia tour that will include Malaysia and Cambodia, with Beijing trying to position itself as a stable alternative to Trump as leaders confront U.S. tariffs.
The Chinese leader called on his country and Vietnam Monday to "oppose unilateral bullying and uphold the stability of the global free trade system", according to Beijing's state media.
Hours later, Trump told reporters at the White House that their meeting was aimed at hurting the United States.
"I don't blame China. I don't blame Vietnam. I don't. I see they're meeting today, and that's wonderful," he said. "That's a lovely meeting... like trying to figure out, how do we screw the United States of America."
China and Vietnam signed 45 cooperation agreements on Monday, including on supply chains, artificial intelligence, joint maritime patrols and railway development.
Xi said a meeting with Vietnam's top leader To Lam on Monday that their countries were "standing at the turning point of history... and should move forward with joint hands".
Lam said after the talks that the two leaders "reached many important and comprehensive common perceptions", according to Vietnam News Agency.
On the final day of his visit, Xi laid a red wreath emblazoned with his name and the words "Long live Vietnam's great leader President Ho Chi Minh" at the late leader's mausoleum in central Hanoi.
He is also due to attend the launch of the Vietnam-China Railway Cooperation, which will help manage an $8-billion rail project -- announced this year -- to link Vietnam's largest northern port city to the border with China.
Xi's trip comes almost two weeks after the United States -- the biggest export market for Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, in the first three months of the year -- imposed a 46 percent levy on Vietnamese goods as part of a global tariff blitz.
Although the US tariffs on Vietnam and most other countries have been paused, China still faces enormous levies and is seeking to tighten regional trade ties and offset their impact during Xi's first overseas trip of the year.
Xi will head to Malaysia later Tuesday and then Cambodia on a tour that "bears major importance" for the broader region, Beijing has said.
Xi earlier urged Vietnam and China to "resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment".
He also reiterated Beijing's line that a "trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere" in an article published on Monday in Vietnam's major state-run Nhan Dan newspaper.
China and Vietnam, both ruled by communist parties, already share a "comprehensive strategic partnership", Hanoi's highest diplomatic status.
Vietnam has long pursued a "bamboo diplomacy" approach -- striving to stay on good terms with both China and the United States.
The two countries have close economic ties, but Hanoi shares U.S. concerns about Beijing's increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea.
© 2025 AFP
46 Comments
wtfjapan
well what did the iDJiT expect. you pee off your allies, theyll look elsewhere for friends,
trade wars are easy to win when your only bully smaller nations. iDJiT is gifting China more influence in Asia and even amoung AMericas allies
Yrral
He trying to screw you,but you let Putin screw you first
GuruMick
Donald...maaate....you are doing the work of 3 Chinas if you want to talk about screwing the USA
Wasabi
Poor baby, everybody is against you... I wonder why?
Are you crying now, too many win? Are you tired yet of so much win?
virusrex
By somehow forcing the US government to break alliances? to defund universities and stop research? to find a way to isolate it from the world with arbitrary, irrational and unstable tariffs?
Peter Neil
Trump is the person screwing over the US. He needs psychiatric help.
MiuraAnjin
Vietnam won't be that last Asian country to be pushed into the welcoming arms of China. That accolade might even go to Japan.
Abe234
Well, Kissinger's plan was just fantasy, in some dream that the capitalist way would somehow bring down the CCP. Well, that didn't happen. Now, Xi sees an opportunity created by Trump to bring other countries into its economic sphere and political snare. Great move, Trump! You not only annoyed all your allies, but you've dumped on potential allies. And the bottom line is,Xi doesn't have to blink, he can force his people to suffer economic pain. He can blame Trump, invoke nationalism, and control the media. On the other hand, he is fully aware that Trumpty Dumpty and the Republicans have an election, an electorate to please, and a government that might argue back. Xi has no such concerns. We may well look back on this as the most significant geopolitical mistake by any sitting president since the tariffs in the 1930s.
NZ
DT paranoia at lowest stage?
highly likely so.
orange genius have expected that China will just sit and will do nothing about it.
rainyday
And in an instant US influence in most of SE Asia goes "Poof!"
Vietnam and China have had horrible relations for years due to disputes over maritime boundaries and until Trump came along the US had been able to use that wedge to its advantage. Now that is all gone.
Amber
Trump deserves to be screwed to the moon and back.
GuruMick
Donnie might like to learn the kiddies song ..... "Nobody loves me , everybody hates me, think I'll go and eat worms "
Brilliant lyrics for those interested in a masterclass of song writing
deanzaZZR
ASEAN is already China's largest trading partner. This did not happen overnight. SE Asian economies are booming with a young workforce and great prospects for the future. Of course China wants to be part of that.
Peter14
The biggest persistent danger for America is Trump and his bumbling attempts to make America an Autocracy and world pariah. He has begun the process of making the USA into a failed state without allies to help it when it needs them most.
Put a failed criminal in complete charge of your nation, its weapons, its money and its future and watch as it all comes tumbling down around you.
To save America, find a way to remove Trump (along medical grounds) from office and JD along with him.
America is in imminent danger from within.
lincolnman
But evidently not a big enough screw for him to terminate his business contracts with China to make his $399 high tops and $59.99 Bibles...
Trump sure plays his supporters for suckers...
rainyday
True, and now China's prospects for further trade and diplomatic ties are much better, while the US is basically shutting itself out of most of the region (except maybe the Philippines).
Peter Neil
And yet, Trump is supported by 40% of Americans. They want an authoritarian regime.
In simple vocabulary tests of 10 questions given across a cross section of Americans, 73% who got all answers wrong were Trump voters.
Is Trump to blame or the voters?
GuruMick
Peter...Americans are dumb ?
Say it isn't so !
theFu
Let me get this straight. MAGA and "America First" are find for Trump and the GOP, but when another country does the same, that's not ok?
Trump really can't be THAT stupid, can he?
theFu
Some Americans are dumb. Every country has some dumb people.
There's no such thing as an "average American", since people have widely different beliefs, stances, and lifestyles across the USA. Like all people, they only know what they've read + believed and what they've learned through their own life experiences.
Someone from Florida doesn't know how to drive on ice with a layer of snow and more than someone from Alaska knows what a safe distance is from alligators. There are lots of things people don't learn the easy way. For example, in 2016, I didn't vote for Trump or Clinton. Both were unacceptable to me, but when Trump got elected, I assumed he would "become Presidential".
After a few months, it became clear the man is an idiot and unfit for any office. He got elected then because he was seen as an outsider and the country was tired of the same old do-nothing politicians that get elected by everyone outside my district. For the most part, people like THEIR representative, but dislike everyone else's representative, especially when they block new laws that make perfect sense.
See the problem? What makes perfect sense in NYC seems dumb to someone in rural Texas. Life experiences are completely different.
The same happens between residents from different countries.
Things that make perfect sense in Tokyo just seem dumb to Americans, sometimes and vice versa. I struggle with the defamation law in Japan, for example. If it is true what is being said, it needs to be allowed. That's the "Free Speech" part of America being voiced. Lies, shouldn't be allowed and the current libel laws in the US don't provide relief to those being lied about quickly enough. Rudy Giuliani took 4 yrs to pay a court sentence for his lies. Trump has never been held accountable for his 30,000+ lies and Alex Jones wasn't found guilty for 10 yrs! There's a Trump supporter who is also a Congress woman from my state (not my district) who lies as much as Trump does about trivial things that are easily proven false, just like Trump. She's up for re-election next year, which I find sad.
There's a difference between political marketing and outright lying.
patkim
Whenever I think of Trump and Vietnam, I can't help but remember that it was the Vietnam war which Trump dodged based on so-called "bone spurs", even though now his doctor claims he is of perfect health.
aaronagstring
Dear Don the Con,
It truly beggars belief when the leader of Communist China (no less!) states that they should “uphold the stability of the global free trade system.” What on earth are you doing? Do you even know anymore? SMH
yours sincerely,
The World.
Tokyo Guy
Pains me to say it, but I hope he succeeds.
The USA needs a wakeup call big time, and given that they only really care about the financial impact, Xi might be the guy to deliver it.
Silvafan
Has China interrupted Trump's personal $1.5 Billion Dollar Golf Resort deal?
Is that how China is going to screw the US?
More like screw up Trump's scam!
More projecting by the lead criminal of the free world!
patkim
China is playing the game the right way; the way that Trump should've played it. You meet with other countries first. You have negotiations and use diplomacy. You don't just slap universal tariffs on everyone without meeting with them. You don't just shoot first and ask questions later. The enemy of China's enemy becomes their friends. Trump just made the whole world his enemy.
buchailldana
The persecution complex is quite severe, or maybe it's just completed paranoia.
But one thing is it's obvious he has no self esteem deep down inside.
Trump is up there with Caligula and Henry VIII in cuckoo land
patkim
The world is quickly finding out that dealing with Trump is too volatile. Any deal you make with him anyway is subject to his sudden emotions that seem to change on any given day. They know that even if he makes a deal to stop tariffs, what's to say that he won't come back and slap more tariffs anyway when he thinks it still is unfair? Other countries know that you can't trust Trump to keep his word.
RichardPearce
Trump is obsessed with China.
China isn't obsessed with the US, or micromanaging other countries social or economic practices.
Peter Neil
Trust is important in our personal lives, business lives and in international relations. The lack of trust in Trump and the ease and speed which the US government suddenly became untrustworthy is making the EU consider buying gas from Russia again.
When a block of nations, former allies of the US, think Putin and Russia are more trustworthy than Trump and the US, it’s a sea change of the world economy.
It takes a long time to create trust. Breaking it so suddenly for no reason will take a long time to reconcile, if ever.
GuruMick
The Fu...nice comment about alligators and icy roads BUT I can see where ordinary Americans are/were/continue to be DUPED by smart talking populists and I see this as a failure to think critically , or to be impolite, to be DUMB.
Aussie not immune either.
TaiwanIsNotChina
It's not always about Trump. If he weren't a dullard, he would be able to take it in stride and have his own trip to Vietnam.
u_s__reamer
The world is not tired of his "winning", but tired of his whining. Still, we can take comfort in the thought that he'll soon disappear down that MAGA hole he just can't stop digging for himself. I'm now counting down to his future removal, one way or another.
bass4funk
Well, there you go.
That lack of trust goes both ways and for 40 years, the man was spot on with his lack of trust from our so-called allies, before you curse the guy, ask "why" is the guy cursing us?
They can try to align themselves with Russia, but they won't in the bigger picture of things, they know it and Trump knows it.
It takes a long time to create trust.
Eeeexactly!!
If you think there is NO reason, then you also don't clearly understand why Democrats lost so badly.
TaiwanIsNotChina
We are having a hard time with the fascism Trump is trying to impose on America.
Economic concerns can be addressed like adults with 1/1000th the damage Trump is doing. The EU has been doing worse than the US economically.
djdenki
Trump is right that China is trying to screw us, but the way that he is going about preventing it is inefficient and opening the door for China to make deals that were once difficult to imagine. During his first term, instead of nuking it, he could have tried to readjust the framework of the TPP the same way he "fixed NFTA/USMCA" and we would have had a strong trade alliance on both sides of the Pacific. AGOA has been around since 2000 (which Trump will most likely not renew this year) and America has largely ignored it for the past 25 years while China proceeds to extract rare earth materials from Africa with with no domestic competition or pushback.
America's soft power is waning and the hubris that came from that power needs to be reigned in so that we don't lose more footing on the global stage to China.
lostrune2
Well, duh! When ya make an enemy out of everyone in the playground, eventually they stop playing with ya and start playing with each other. It's better if ya kept your own group of friends
1glenn
So, in Maga world, standing up to Trump is trying to screw the US. Got it.
Saw a bit on late night comedy that I can't get out of my head. One of the TV crews went and interviewed half a dozen Trump voters, and asked them simple, elementary grade level questions. Not a single Trump voter could answer correctly the question, "Who was the first President of the United States?" Not a single one of them. Helps to explain why Republican politicians are constantly voting against funding for public education. They know full well that an educated electorate does not vote Republican.
bass4funk
We already got screwed since Truman, now we are the ones standing up.
You had the same with liberals voters as well, seen it many times myself, it goes both ways, not about conservative or liberal, it’s about our public schools are not teaching kids how to read and write. They’re just teaching them to be brainless lib activists and nothing more.
And by the way, who suffers the most in public school education or lack of? Minorities and why? Why in Blue states with money, run by Democrats and not by Republicans Black and Brown kids suffer the most?
And yet, they did, this is why Dems lost everything. I know it’s painful, but you guys will get it, give it another 6 months to take it all in.
GuruMick
Bass...another reminder...Trump got 35% of the eligible vote.
Not the "landslide " you keep inferring.
As for "the rule of law " you referenced above...there is a convention in Western Nations that leaders do not attack the Judiciary on personal grounds.
Traditionally, the Judiciary is silent when under attack, but so egregious is Trumps attitude the USA Supreme Court top Judge had to come out publicly and scold Trump.
But on other matters, it is probably too early to see economic indicators arising from the Trump experiment.
Lets see how inflation, wage growth and employment stand after a year or so.
TokyoLiving
Good omen from Trump...
Go President Xi, put Vietnam on the right path so it doesn't get blackmailed by the dirty tricks of Trump and his MAGA regime.
Vietnam is getting closer to becoming part of the BRICS+.
TokyoLiving
Glory and honor to the brave and worthy people of Vietnam, who defeated the cruel and evil invader in 1973..
TokyoLiving
Breaking news... The Chinese government has just ordered a suspension of purchases of Boeing aircraft by Chinese airlines.
Trump's dirty tricks and criminal tariffs are increasingly unraveling.
LOOOOOOOOOOL
Claire
I don't know President Trump expects. No-one wants to simply roll over and let him get his own way. He's basically "screwed" the United States all in his very own.
deanzaZZR
But I thought The Don held all the cards ...
bass4funk
They’re about to do a deal with the U.S., no BRICS
That’s ok, China needs the US as we are its biggest buyer base, and if China wants to play the long game, Trump will. China needs us as much as well. A deal will be made soon.
Mutual trade or zero trade
And that’s how we feel exactly about the rest of the world, particularly Europe.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Are you sure you don't mean 1979?