Trump At 47th Asean Summit Is It Good News

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In his recent speech tabling the 13th Malaysia Plan in Parliament, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim revealed that Donald Trump has confirmed his attendance at the 47th Asean Summit, scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur this October.
Was Anwar really bragging about the prospect of the US president’s attendance, so much so that the latter’s prospective presence badly needed to be announced in the august house as if it represented a national interest?
Are Malaysians really proud or happy hearing such an announcement?
Trump is facing several problems at home; the major one seems to be the “Epstein files". The buzzwords "Epstein files" have been haunting the Trump administration for weeks as it grapples with a growing crisis stemming from the sex crimes of late convicted paedophile financier, Jeffrey Epstein.
ADSIt is fascinating to note here that Anwar’s critics seem to believe both Trump and Anwar face a problem of almost the same genus. His critics argue that while Trump has been haunted by the spectre of the Epstein files, Anwar, on the other hand, seems to be grappling with the files of his former aide, Yusoff Rawther.
So far, Trump has been responding to the lingering crisis by coming up with the oldest trick in his political book, pushing a conspiracy theory against the Democrats, particularly former US president Barack Obama.
Jeffrey EpsteinIn any case, many believe the politics that Trump represents are the exact opposite of everything that all of us should stand for. We may want to remember how he jubilantly introduced racist anti-Muslim laws when he was in the presidential office for the first time.
Despite such a racist law, Trump is still unable to suppress Islam in the US, especially in big cities like New York. Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City’s primary for mayoral race proves that Trump is so detached from young voters.
Environmental disregard
Trump also showed a total disregard for the global environment when he ingenuously signed executive actions and cemented his intent to double down on fossil fuels and reverse America’s progress on climate change and clean energy, including signing orders to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement.
No doubt the final nail in the coffin was his failed attempt to overthrow American democracy on Jan 6, 2021. Such a desperate act has merely worsened the image of the US as a template of true and genuine democracy!
His recent trip to Scotland was vehemently protested and strongly opposed. Yes, he was not welcome there. In fact, protesters in Scotland were waving Palestinian flags and chanting for him to be deported.
With a myriad of problems encircling Anwar’s administration at this juncture, it remains to be seen whether Trump's upcoming presence in Kuala Lumpur would be either a boon or a bane to Anwar’s government. - Mkini
HANIPA MAIDIN is a former deputy law minister.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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