August 01, 2026
Donald Trump Is Missing Thailand’s Strategic Moment
This article was originally published in The National Interest.
Since he returned to office, President Donald Trump has visited Southeast Asia only once, and he went to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit Kuala Lumpur hosted last year. But while on the ground, he inked multiple deals with various ASEAN members, including US security ally Thailand, to shore up US interests amid intensifying strategic competition with China.
As China expands its economic footprint across mainland Southeast Asia, Washington must demonstrate that it can also be Thailand’s partner of choice for trade, investment, and energy security.
Both nations agreed to collaborate on critical minerals supply chains and to promote investment in their respective economies. Yet, this agreement received relatively little attention, overshadowed by Trump’s prominent role in announcing the Thailand-Cambodia peace agreement, which brought a temporary end to months of escalating border hostilities.
Read the full article in The National Interest.
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