Trump to skip East Asia Summit while in region

US President Donald Trump —AP

NEW YORK — US President Donald Trump will skip a key Asia summit at the end of his trip to the region next month.

The White House said on Tuesday that Trump would be returning to the United States on Nov. 14, the same day as the East Asia Summit (EAS) in the Philippines.

Trump is slated to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit, which is also in the Philippines, the day before, but he will not stay the extra day.

Another US delegation that will attend the EAS, which will include more than a dozen Asian nations as well as Australia, New Zealand and Russia.

The White House did not give a reason why Trump would skip the EAS.

The Philippines will be the final stop of Trump’s 12-day, five-nation trip, his first to Asia.

The trip is expected to be dominated by Trump demanding that American allies in the region increase pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.

But for all of Trump’s overheated talk about North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and the latter’s nuclear program, he will likely not make the customary presidential visit to the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea known as the Demilitarized Zone.