Trump skips East Asia Summit on final day of 12-day tour

Donald Trump has ended a marathon trip to Asia by skipping an international summit after the event was delayed by about two hours.

The White House had added the East Asia Summit, an annual meeting of more than a dozen countries, to the president’s schedule after concerns were raised that missing it might signify a lack of US interest in Asia.

However, after a gruelling 12-day trip across five countries, Trump opted to get on Air Force One and fly back to Washington. His flight left more than 30 minutes earlier than planned and he also missed a group photo with other world leaders.

Trump told reporters on the plane he had already delivered his “final remarks” during a lunch with other leaders and would send the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, in his place.

The president hailed a “tremendously successful” overseas trip, saying he had “made a lot of friends at the highest levels”.

“I think the fruits of our labour are going to be incredible,” he added.

He said the trip had resulted in sales of $300bn (£229bn) “worth of equipment and other things”. “And I think that number is going to be quadrupled very quickly. So that’s over a trillion dollars’ worth of stuff,” Trump added, without specifying the deals.

In his first official trip to the region, Trump pushed for unity against North Korea’s nuclear ambitions – and called Kim Jong-un “short and fat” – flattered China, and berated Asian countries he accused of “cheating” in trade deals.