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ASEAN still matters for Trump’s US, Singapore asserts
The 10-nation ASEAN needs to remain peaceful and prosperous in order to remain relevant for the United States under the second presidency of Donald Trump, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has said.
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Still growing: The ASEAN flag (right) is placed alongside the flags of its member countries ahead of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Langkawi, Malaysia, on Jan. 17, 2025. (Reuters/Hasnoor Hussain)
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SEAN remains a relevant and important partner for the United States under President Donald Trump’s presidency in advancing the latter’s strategic goals in the region, the Singaporean government asserted, while also conveying confidence with the bloc’s prospect of growth and competitiveness.
Trump’s return to the White House has been expected to become a challenge for the ASEAN relations with the US, with his nationalist and “America first” agenda likely leading to decreased engagement, foreign aid and direct investments from the US to its Southeast Asian counterparts.
Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan acknowledged such concerns that the bloc would not be a priority for Trump in his second presidency. But he remained optimistic that the 10-nation bloc would remain relevant as a trade partner to the US.
“I‘ve engaged with President Trump and his administration before, and they’re fully aware that there’s more American investment [...] within ASEAN than there is in India, China and Japan combined,” Balakrishnan told a group of Indonesian journalists during a recent fireside chat in Singapore.
He highlighted ASEAN’s strategic location at the crossroads of the Indo-Pacific, which would allow ASEAN to provide a space for the US to work with “like-minded partners” should the bloc continue to “quietly grow and remain a zone of peace and prosperity”.
“If we’re peaceful and prosperous and working closely together, we’re not comparable to regions like the Middle East or Europe, which face conflicts,” the minister said. “We don’t want to be in the same category as those regions, nor do we want to make headlines for crises.”
Read also: Trump policies could cast shadow over Indonesia, Asia
