President Donald Trump signed an historic peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, as well as trade agreements with Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
Trump is visiting Malaysia to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference in a renewed show of commitment to the region amid rising economic and military challenges from China.
Upon arrival, Trump showed a great deal of enthusiasm, joining dancers who were on hand to greet Air Force One with a local version of his “YMCA” dance, made famous in the 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns.
The Cambodia-Thailand peace deal took center stage. Trump had brokered a ceasefire between the two nations in late July, and signed a formal peace agreement.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahm praised Trump’s leadership in the peace effort, saying the world needed more examples of such leadership toward peace.
In addition, Trump signed separate peace deals, detailed in separate memoranda of understanding. The U.S. reached a minerals deal with Thailand, sharing investment opportunities in the minerals sector, and sharing information. Trump signed a similar deal on minerals with his Malaysian hosts. The U.S. also reached an agreement with Cambodia on reciprocal trade that will allow American goods access to Cambodian markets.
Finally, it reached a trade deal with Thailand, according to which the Asian nation will drop tariffs on 99 percent of American goods, while the U.S. will maintain a 19 percent tariff on goods from Thailand, except for specific goods exempted from tariffs, and will work with Thailand to eliminate regulations that constitute non-tariff barriers to trade. Thailand also committed to apply more rigorous labor and environmental standards, and to specific purchases of American goods, including energy, agricultural products, and aircraft.
The president’s five-day trip will include visits to Japan and South Korea, and his second meeting with Chinese premier Xi Jinping, which will be watched closely. The meeting may be the last chance for a trade deal before the U.S. Supreme Court hears a challenge to Trump’s emergency tariffs — one likely to succeed.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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