Showmanship or Statecraft: Trump Returns to ASEAN
In a brief by the Asia Society Policy Institute, Bryanna Entwistle and Shay Wester cover President Trump’s first stop on his Asia tour: the ASEAN Leaders' Summit in Kuala Lumpur. On the sidelines, he presided over the signing of a number of deals, including a ceasefire deal between Thailand and Cambodia, and “reciprocal trade” deals with Malaysia and Cambodia, respectively.
The attendance of an American head of state at the annual leaders meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has long been considered a litmus test for the significance of the region to Washington’s foreign policy agenda. Over the past eight years, U.S. Presidents have only participated in two ASEAN meetings—President Trump traveled to the region in 2017 during his first term, and former President Biden called in virtually in 2022. Given that Southeast Asia faces some of the highest tariff rates globally and transshipment penalties that could disproportionately affect the region, Trump’s announcement that he would attend the 2025 leaders’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur came as somewhat of a surprise.
At this year’s summit, Trump attended the signing of the Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire deal, the U.S.-ASEAN Summit, and several meetings that involved signing trade agreements with Malaysia and Cambodia and framework agreements with Vietnam and Thailand. Moreover, critical minerals agreements were signed with Malaysia and Thailand to expand processing capacity, strengthen supply chains, and promote partnerships with U.S. companies. Despite the showmanship and flattery from several Southeast Asian leaders, there is much more work to be done on many of the agreements that Trump signed in Malaysia, and these countries will still be subject to tariffs going forward. The protests against Trump across Kuala Lumpur underscored that things are far from stabilized in U.S.-Southeast Asia relations—and it will take more than one visit to reverse course.
