He isn’t even being coy about playing golf.
Via The Hill:
President Obama will host a summit of Southeast Asian leaders at a posh Southern California resort early next year, the White House said Thursday.
During an Asian tour last month, Obama invited leaders from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the Sunnylands resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif., “to continue important conversations about the Asia-Pacific region,” said National Security Council spokesman Myles Caggins.
“The president is pleased the leaders have accepted his invitation to gather at Sunnylands, in early 2016,” added Caggins, who did not provide additional details about the meeting, including an exact date.
A Japanese news outlet reported the summit will take place over President’s Day weekend, Feb. 15 and 16.
The gathering comes as Obama is trying accelerate the U.S.’ “pivot” to Asia, a key component of his foreign policy agenda. The president is working to deepen U.S. ties in the Asia-Pacific region in order to counter China’s influence there. […]
Obama will have a home-court advantage with Asian leaders at Sunnylands, a 200-acre estate near Palm Springs that is one of his favorite destinations in the country. He met Chinese President Xi Jinping there in 2013 and he used it for golf getaways on President’s Day weekend in 2014 and 2015.