TRUMP’S VISIT TO KUALA LUMPUR
The biggest newsmaker at the summit will no doubt be Trump, said analysts, adding that his presence is significant for ASEAN and shows the bloc is an important diplomatic platform.
“Symbolically, it signals that Southeast Asia remains within Washington’s strategic orbit and that the US still recognises ASEAN as an important diplomatic platform,” Khoo said.
She said that Southeast Asian leaders will likely use the opportunity to seek some form of commitment or cooperation, particularly in areas such as trade, technology, and defence.
Joanne Lin, co-coordinator of the ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, echoed the same views, telling CNA that Trump’s visit is significant, especially as US presidents have not been attending the regional summit regularly in recent years.
The last US president to do so was Joe Biden, who attended the 2022 meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
During his first presidency from 2017 to 2021, Trump made only a single appearance at the annual summit, attending the 2017 meeting in Manila, Philippines.
“His presence this time sends an important signal, given how difficult it has been for world leaders to gain direct access to him since the tariff measures were announced,” said Lin, referring to sweeping tariffs on US imports that Trump first announced in April.
The US is the largest source of foreign direct investment in the bloc.
However, analysts also cautioned against reading Trump’s visit as a signal of his long-term commitment to ASEAN, with Khoo noting that Trump’s diplomatic style tends to favour short-term and transactional engagements.
“At this stage, the visit appears more symbolic than strategic. Unless this visit is followed by concrete policy frameworks, development funding, or long-term diplomatic engagement, it’s likely to be a one-off event,” she said.
Lin said she believes that Trump’s interest seems to centre on the Cambodia–Thailand peace deal, which some see as an opportunity for him to burnish his Nobel Peace Prize credentials.
The two Southeast Asian neighbours had been locked in a border dispute, with tensions escalating in July into their deadliest military clashes in decades, killing more than 40 people and forcing around 300,000 to flee their homes.
Both sides agreed to a ceasefire on July 28 after talks in Kuala Lumpur mediated by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, though Trump has also claimed credit for the deal.
“I ended seven wars, and in all cases, they were raging, with countless thousands of people being killed. This includes Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda — a vicious, violent war that was — Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Trump said during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Sep 23.
Some media reports said that one condition Trump set for attending the ASEAN summit was for him to preside over a ceremonial signing of a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia.
“It seems that Trump’s attendance looks more like a spotlight moment in Kuala Lumpur than a long-term commitment to Southeast Asia or ASEAN centrality,” said Lin.
Separately, Abdolreza Alami of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)’s Faculty of Communication and Media Studies told CNA that Trump’s visit was primarily a geopolitical move for the US to counter China, rather than a genuine commitment to ASEAN.
“Given Trump’s history of prioritising ‘America First’ and transactional deals, his presence is more a geopolitical opportunism than a genuine commitment. Its importance stems not from valuing ASEAN itself, but from competition with China in Asia and a desire for a high-profile photo opportunity,” he said.
He also said that given Trump’s unpredictable nature, any sudden statement or policy shift from him could easily divert attention from critical ASEAN issues and reduce the summit to a single US-centric dimension.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/trump-gaza-timor-leste-malaysia-asean-summit-5417671
