[1] As the date for US President Donald Trump’s visit to Kuala Lumpur draws nearer, calls for the government to disinvite him have grown. Demonstrations have also taken place, and more are being planned. That it has become a hot-button political issue is not surprising; Trump’s support for Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people has dismayed and angered many Malaysians. 

[2] The recently announced peace plan is not going to win any admirers here either. While Putrajaya has cautiously welcomed the plan which includes the much-needed release of all hostages, a slew of NGOs have panned it as nothing short of a scheme to legitimize the continued occupation and subjugation of the Palestinian people and kill off the idea of an independent Palestinian state forever. It is the ultimate betrayal of the Palestinian people.

[3] Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has the unenviable task of navigating a challenging political situation.  On the one hand he has to remain faithful to Malaysia’s long-standing policy of supporting the Palestinian struggle while on the other he is obliged to protect important national and regional interests. Fortunately, there is none better at hunting with the hounds and running with the hare. 

[4] Demands that Trump be disinvited are ill-conceived to say the least. America is a hugely important trading partner. Exports to the US and US investments provide tens of thousands of jobs for Malaysians as well as help sustain the nation’s economic growth. It’s not something that ought to be jeopardized simply to make a point. 

[5] It is also not a zero-sum game – a choice between Palestine or Trump – as the prime minister’s political opponents are making it out to be. There is no reason why we can build mutually beneficial relations with the US while still standing firmly with the Palestinian people.  Like it or not, Palestine is such an intrinsic article of faith here that any Malaysian politician who abandons the Palestinian struggle for freedom and self-determination will surely be damned. 

[6] The other thing to keep in mind is that Trump’s visit to Kuala Lumpur is not a bilateral visit per se; he’s coming to attend the ASEAN summit along with other world leaders. The PM’s propagandists might tout Trump’s visit as an indication of the prime minister’s personal standing in the world or Malaysia’s “growing geopolitical significance” but actually the visit is more about ASEAN than Malaysia. Trump also attended the ASEAN summit in Manila in 2017. 

[8] As the current ASEAN chairman, Malaysia has an obligation to member states to facilitate the visit of all its summit partners irrespective of bilateral considerations. ASEAN, as a regional grouping, has many important issues – from trade to regional security – that require close consultation and dialogue with the US. We don’t have to agree with everything the US does, nor do we even have to like the US; but we do need to engage the US because it is the region’s dominant power.  The same goes with China; individual members may have issues with China but ASEAN as a whole must continue to engage with China.

[9] We engaged the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime because we needed to search for a solution to the war in Indochina. We continue to relate to Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine. Even now we continue to engage the murderous military regime in Myanmar despite its appalling human rights record. For small countries like Malaysia there is simply no other alternative but dialogue and engagement even if the results are not always what we hope for. 

[10] Anyway, diplomatic sources indicate that Trump’s main interest in attending the ASEAN summit is to witness the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia, never mind that the brief skirmish is already yesterday’s news. It’s part of his campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Who knows what will happen if the Nobel Committee decides tomorrow not to give it to him?  

[Dennis Ignatius |Kuala Lumpur | 9^th October 2025]