Trump to Meet Marcos in Manila on November 17 Before Heading to APEC in Shenzhen

MANILA — President Donald Trump is expected to hold talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila next week, but he is not due to land until half an hour after the formal close of the ASEAN summit.

Trump’s scheduled airport arrival is 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 17, according to an advisory to the media from ASEAN organizers. The summit’s closing ceremony is set for 5:00 p.m., followed by a speech and press conference by Marcos as chair at 6 p.m. Trump is the last leader scheduled to reach Manila for the gathering.

Dominic Xavier Imperial, the spokesperson for the Philippines’ ASEAN chairship, confirmed in a message to reporters that the ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit, which Trump will attend, “will be the last engagement to cap the meetings on 17 November.” In an interview on Thursday, Imperial said “there will definitely be a bilateral engagement between President Trump and President Marcos” during the short stop.

That timing means Trump could miss the East Asia Summit, a forum that includes the United States, which begins at 2:30 p.m. on November 17. Both Trump and Marcos are due in Shenzhen, China, for the APEC leaders’ meeting on November 18 and 19. Trump told reporters he expects meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shenzhen gathering and said topics would include denuclearization and ending the war in Iran.

Defense equipment and tariffs on the agenda

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has suggested that an announcement involving defense equipment could come during the visit. He pointed to a command and control initiative that covers cyber resilience and the sharing of classified information. He said any assistance would take the form of equipment and capabilities, not cash. “These are not cash grants, these are hard grants of equipment and capabilities so no cash is involved,” he said.

Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said meetings alongside the summit could provide an opening to discuss the effect of higher American tariffs on Philippine exporters. Trade Secretary Cristina Roque and Marcos were continuing to seek more favorable conditions for exporters, he said.

ASEAN expects to adopt at least two documents with Washington, Imperial said: one on political-security, economic and trade ties, and another on online scams and transnational crime.

The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, Lee Lipton, said on November 7 that no announcement of a Pax Silica agreement was planned during the ASEAN summit. The proposed economic security zone, which aims to strengthen supply chains for semiconductors and advanced manufacturing, would sit in New Clark City in Tarlac province. Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said on November 10 that the two countries still aimed to sign the project’s legal framework before the end of 2026.

Trump last visited the Philippines in November 2017 for an ASEAN summit hosted by then-President Rodrigo Duterte. Marcos invited him to this year’s meetings during a White House visit in July 2025.

Metro Manila will observe special nonworking days from November 16 to 18 to ease traffic and help secure visiting leaders. Civil society groups have announced plans to protest Trump’s expected visit.

Reporting based on coverage by Balita, Asia Daily and Dawn.