Trump downplays differences with China over Iran as he heads to Beijing

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on Tuesday (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday downplayed differences with President Xi Jinping over the US conflict in Iran as he travelled to Beijing for a high-stakes summit with the Chinese leader.

Mr Trump has been unsuccessfully pressing Mr Xi to use China’s considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to US terms to end the more than two-month-old war — or, at the very least, reopen the Strait of Hormuz.