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Malaysia braces for volatile Asean summit with Trump centre stage
The famously fickle US president threatens to overshadow proceedings with his first appearance at an Asean summit since 2017
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Just weeks ago, securing US President Donald Trump’s attendance at this month’s Asean summit was seen by many as a diplomatic masterstroke by Malaysia’s leader.
But the fanfare surrounding the notoriously fickle American president’s impending arrival in Southeast Asia has since faded, with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s apparent triumph of statesmanship transforming into a high-wire act fraught with risk.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ next summit is set to be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 26-28, bringing the bloc’s heads of government face-to-face with Trump for the first time since his administration upended global trade and battered their economies with sweeping tariffs.
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The guest list reads like a roll call of global power-brokers: Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are all expected to attend.
The worst-case scenario would involve the summit being overshadowed by sharp rhetoric or unexpected political theatrics
Yet all eyes will be on Trump, whose trademark unpredictability has left Malaysia – and Anwar, who extended the invitation – bracing for potential fallout.
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