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Few were ready for the zinger that followed when Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim leaned into the microphone and said, with a suitably dramatic pause for effect, that he and US President Donald Trump were alike in many ways. “President Trump and I share a lot in common,” he said, as ears craned towards the lectern for the punchline. One of the overlapping experiences was “that I was in prison”, Anwar added, “and you almost got there”. The joke landed well, drawing laughter in the room, including from Trump, who appeared to find humour in the reference to his unconditional discharge by a US court after being found guilty of falsifying business records, allowing him to avoid jail time. Anwar was jailed for a total of 11 years, for convictions he says were politically motivated. His speech was just before the signing of the so-called Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords, an extended ceasefire deal with Thailand and Cambodia, which officials said Trump had made a condition of his stop in the Malaysian capital. It was part of a whirlwind day trip by Trump, characterised by back-slapping and jocular asides, in a visit widely seen as a resounding diplomatic success for Anwar, who danced, joked and signed a trade deal with the mercurial American leader. The dividend from Anwar and Trump’s personal chemistry was all the more significant given that the US president showed little intrigue in Southeast Asia during his first term. That handed the Asean summit a moment in the spotlight for an annual meeting that was often criticised as flat and lacking urgency, diplomats said. “Trump was in a very good mood and he was quite happy with the reception, especially at the airport,” a Malaysian government source said, referring to viral clips of the US president dancing along with Anwar and a cultural troupe that welcomed him on the airport tarmac on Sunday morning. “I think that really helped bring down the temperature and allowed for good discussions,” added the source, who asked not to be named as they were not authorised to issue media statements. For weeks, diplomats from Malaysia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were braced for the impact of the president’s visit. It was a trip brimming with the potential pitfalls, with Trump in Asia to take on China and Asean over trade imbalances and secure access to critical minerals that America fears being beaten to by Chinese rivals. But as a guest, Trump was at his charming best, telling Asean during their talks that the entire world “looks up to you” and that it was a “magnificent region”. He even kept his attention on China to the minimum in his speeches, although he could not resist a swipe at the United Nations for the teleprompter and escalator snafus at the UN General Assembly last month. On Tuesday, Anwar said the bloc was able to finalise its upgraded trade deal with China because “Malaysia’s name now carries weight”. “If we were afraid of the United States, how could we have signed with China?” Anwar told a news conference at the end of the summit. “Signing it after meeting President Trump? Impossible right? But that’s what I call wisdom and diplomacy.” It was a far cry from the confrontational tone that Trump had struck in April when he unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs, which left governments and businesses across Southeast Asia scrambling to negotiate preferential deals with Washington and find new markets for their vital exports. In the span of just a few hours, Trump was joined by Anwar to oversee the ceremonial peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand, saw to the signing of trade deals with Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam and held informal talks with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Observers say this was possible in large part due to Anwar’s deft diplomacy in placating Trump’s pugilistic tendencies. Besides Trump, this summit saw the largest gathering of leaders of major powers in its history which included Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union, Japan, South Africa and South Korea. At the Asean-China Summit on Tuesday, Anwar said the fact that they welcomed Trump over the weekend did not mean that the bloc was neglecting its principles of centrality and maintaining friendly ties with all countries. “The day before we were with President Donald Trump of the United States of America, and today we are back with China. And that reflects Asean centrality,” Anwar said. In the last seven months, Anwar has hosted both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump. Devil in the details But the summit was not entirely smooth sailing. On the opening day on Sunday, Malaysian state broadcaster RTM had to issue public apologies after an announcer read out the wrong names when announcing the arrival of the leaders of Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Protesters also converged on Kuala Lumpur, albeit outside the security cordon surrounding the central business district where the summit was held, to accuse Anwar’s administration of being a “traitor” to the Palestinian cause by welcoming Trump on Malaysian soil. “Anwar has faced huge criticism for welcoming Trump in such a lavish manner,” political analyst Azmi Hassan said. “Even the newly inked trade deal between Malaysia and the United States faced criticism that we were ‘forced’ to sign by the United States.” He cited the trade deal signed on Sunday, which formalises Malaysia’s pledge to spend US$240 billion to buy US goods such as commercial aircraft, cars and energy and invest in America’s giant economy. In the run-up to Trump’s arrival, Anwar also faced growing pressure to retract his invitation to the US leader, who has been accused by the opposition in a Muslim-majority country of being the prime backer of Israel’s war on Gaza which has killed more than 68,000 people. Still, experts said Anwar’s efforts had helped build up Asean’s credentials as a neutral venue for global negotiations in a time of global uncertainty. “If anything, Asean has gained more agency, more importance to be able to be seen as a bloc,” said Mohd Faiz Abdullah, chairman of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (Isis) Malaysia. “It goes to show how important Asean is.” As he handed over on Tuesday to next year’s Asean chair the Philippines, Anwar turned to Shakespeare for inspiration, saying the English bard “warns us against being passion’s slave” and instead the bloc should be governed “by reason to be steadfast amid the stirrings and frenzies of the hour … that must be the Asean way if we are to endure”.
