Trump promises major announcement on his return to Washington

Manila, Nov 14 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he will make a major statement upon his arrival at the White House after a two-week tour of Asia, during which he visited Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

"I will be making a major statement from the White House upon my return to D.C. Time and date to be set," Trump wrote on Twitter, reports Efe news.

Shortly after that tweet, Trump told reporters that his first trip to Asia had been "tremendously successful".

Trump departed from Manila on Tuesday aboard the Air Force One presidential aircraft after participating in meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

The Asean comprises of Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

In addition to the Asean heads of state and government, also present in the Philippine capital were leaders of Australia, Canada, China, South Korea, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, the European Union and the UN.

Both in Manila and throughout his trip, Trump championed his administration's policy of favouring "fair and reciprocal" bilateral agreements over large-scale multilateral deals, and sought to rally international support around increasing sanctions against the North Korean regime and the Islamic State terror organisation.