US President Donald Trump intends to take the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, with him next week when he travels to the Philippines and China.
As president of SpaceX and Tesla, Musk is linked to economic interests and national security files that make him a valuable advisor to Trump, according to what administration officials said on Friday, on condition of anonymity.
This visit comes in light of the widening repercussions of Jensen Huang's ouster from the presidency of Nvidia, against the backdrop of his extramarital relationship with Alice Huang, who American officials suspect of spying for China despite Beijing's denials. Megaspeed, which Huang founded, was accused last year of diverting advanced artificial intelligence chips from Nvidia to the Chinese market.
According to an Associated Press report, Trump does not intend to confront Chinese leader Xi Jinping over the issue, and administration officials do not expect China to take retaliatory measures in response to any subsequent steps to prevent it from smuggling or using advanced computer chips, officials told reporters.
The administration believes that the situation related to “Nvidia” should not have any impact on the trip, given that the United States does not negotiate with foreign countries regarding its use of export controls. Trump aides are discussing the possibility of closing loopholes in existing trade measures, including using export licenses and preventing Chinese companies from using advanced chips over the Internet through remote access.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized what he described as “using international law as a weapon,” considering it a tool in the hands of the elite. He also attacked the International Criminal Court, warning it of the consequences of imposing laws that Washington does not recognize.
His statements came before the annual national conference of lawyers organized by the conservative Federalists Association, about a month after the United States announced the imposition of new sanctions on the International Criminal Court and pledged to stop its work.
The court, which was established in 2002, tries individuals accused of committing genocide and crimes against humanity, and is considered a last resort in cases where countries lack sufficient legal systems to ensure accountability.
The United States is a signatory to the Rome Statute under which the International Criminal Court was established, but it has never ratified it. Israel, Russia and China are also not members of the court.
The speech that Rubio delivered before the conference, which was met with warm applause, was his first since the crushing defeat suffered by the Republican Party in the midterm elections.
Rubio said on Friday that international law had been used against “almost every major foreign policy decision” of the Trump administration, from operations against boats in the Caribbean to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
He considered that this law is not neutral, but rather a “tool” used by the global elite to promote its interests.
Rubio had previously announced that Washington would ban dealing with what he described as a “rogue court,” as part of the ongoing campaign of the administration of US President Donald Trump against the International Criminal Court.
Washington pledged to dismantle this court following its issuance of an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the grounds of alleged war crimes in Gaza.
On Friday, Rubio renewed his criticism of it, considering that it is a body that is not accountable to anyone, even though it “has the power to investigate, prosecute, persecute, and imprison our citizens under laws that we have not approved and over which we have no control.”
He added: “If they are so foolish as to try to impose their paper decrees on us, our response will be the same as the Roman commander Pompey responded to those who invoked the charters of their city in front of his legions: Will you not stop reciting the laws before us while we are holding swords?”
The occasion during which Rubio delivered his speech fueled speculation that he was looking beyond the foreign policy file, as presidential candidates had previously spoken before the National Conference of Lawyers.
Rubio is seen as one of the prominent candidates to succeed President Donald Trump, despite his denial of reports that he intends to leave the US administration to prepare to run in the 2028 elections.
The White House announced on Friday that US President Donald Trump, his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will hold a tripartite meeting next week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, hosted by the Chinese city of Shenzhen.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wells told reporters about the talks scheduled for Thursday, saying: “The president has made clear that he will discuss, among other topics, the issue of reducing nuclear weapons in the world,” adding that “President Trump believes that this proliferation poses an extreme risk.”
Although the leaders' meeting for joint talks will constitute an exceptional event, analysts say that expectations are low that the talks will result in major breakthroughs, and that their symbolic nature will overshadow their actual content.
Trump showed great rapprochement with Xi after reaching a truce in their short trade war last year, despite disagreements over the US war with Iran and other tensions between the two largest economic powers in the world.
US President Donald Trump intends to discuss the Iran war with his Chinese and Russian counterparts, but he is not expected to address the war in Ukraine, a senior US official said on Friday.
The official, who requested to remain anonymous during a phone call with journalists, said: “I believe that the president intends to talk about Iran during the tripartite meeting that he will have with both Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.”
He added that Washington has a “completely different path” for negotiations with Kiev and Moscow, noting that “China is not actually part of this path, so it does not seem appropriate to hold a discussion about Ukraine there.”
The US official also ruled out that President Trump would address the issue of Alice Huang, a suspected Chinese spy who allegedly had a relationship with former NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, when he visits China in the coming days to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference.
