U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines spoke with the Washington Examiner about the future of U.S. relationships with Central Asia. Read the highlights below.
Steve Daines carves out shuttle diplomacy lane as Asia expert for Trump
David Sivak
November 10th, 2025
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) is reprising his role as one of President Donald Trump’s top Senate allies on foreign policy, lending his experience in Asia for a flurry of diplomatic outreach.
In an interview from his Senate office, Daines said he would be leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to China next spring, for what would be his second trip since Trump returned to the White House in January. He made his first in March, weeks after Trump imposed fresh tariffs on Beijing.
Daines is making the trips in his capacity as a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and his travel to the region predates Trump’s second term. Last year, Daines shuttled to Central Asia twice to build trade relations with the region’s leaders.
But Daines, a pro-Trump Republican, has also made a point to work hand in hand with the new administration and has been part of its early diplomatic breakthroughs. In May, he visited the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan with members of Trump’s team, ultimately helping to broker a peace agreement that ended decades of conflict.
… “When I take these trips, I want to do my best to remain aligned with their objectives,” Daines said of the administration. “I realize I’m in the Senate. That’s Article One. The presidency is Article Two. But we’re on the same team. We want to make sure we’re complementing one another’s efforts.”
This past week, that coordination landed Daines at the table with Trump and the Central Asian leaders he visited in 2024. They were invited to the White House to celebrate 10 years of improved diplomatic relations with the United States, and Daines was tapped as one of the keynote speakers for their business summit.
In the Senate, Daines complemented that milestone with a bill to repeal Soviet-era trade restrictions on Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian countries, a push he says has been received positively by the administration.
“I flagged this for Secretary Rubio and the administration to get their support, and they’re out front now saying, ‘Let’s get this done,’ which is great,” said Daines, adding that Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the Foreign Relations Committee chairman, has also been a “great partner” on the legislation. “So, I think we’ve got a clear shot here to actually get this done sooner versus later.”
… Daines’s travel to Asia comes at a critical moment for Far East relations. Not only is Trump trying to extract meaningful concessions from President Xi Jinping with his tariff agenda, but the White House’s efforts in Central Asia reflect an attempt to diminish Chinese and Russian influence in the region.
In particular, the administration sees the peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, signed in August, as unlocking a “road” to Central Asia and its vast reserves of critical minerals and natural gas.
“Basically, the Russians have had their way and have had a huge influence in the region. And, of course, the Chinese have growing influence in the region, and the U.S. has, in many ways, just been absent in this,” said Daines.
“I was the first U.S. senator to get into, for example, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan in 13 years,” Daines added. “So, there’s really been a significant lack of engagement by U.S. senators in this very strategic part of the world.”
…Daines’s alignment with Trump goes beyond the foreign policy space. As chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee last cycle, he is credited with helping keep Trump and Senate leadership on the same page in 2024, when Republicans picked up four seats and retook the majority.
He was the first member of that leadership team to endorse Trump’s comeback bid for the White House.
Read the full article HERE.
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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Gabby Wiggins