Trump joins ASEAN summit in Malaysia
(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump attended the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, marking his first in-person appearance at the gathering since 2017.
Trump joined Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and other regional leaders for a group photo, before participating in a working session with US-ASEAN officials.
"I'm here on a mission of friendship and goodwill and to deepen our ties of commerce, to strengthen our common security and to really promote strongly stability, prosperity and peace for all of the countries in this room and long beyond this room," Trump said. He added that during his Asia tour, he plans to finalize or sign trade agreements with Asia-Pacific partners, including Japan and South Korea.
“We're delighted to forge richer partnerships on energy technology, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, and other industries,” he noted.
The summit marked the 13th US-ASEAN meeting, with former President Joe Biden last attending in person in 2022 in Indonesia. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stated that a joint vision statement for “prosperous ASEAN and America” will be adopted to translate cooperation into concrete outcomes. He highlighted that bilateral trade between the US and the Southeast Asian bloc reached $453 billion last year.
ASEAN, founded in Bangkok on August 8, 1967, includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Leaders welcomed Timor-Leste as the bloc’s 11th member, marking its first expansion in 26 years.
Trump’s three-country Asia tour will continue with visits to Japan to meet Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, followed by South Korea, where he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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