The re-election of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States, once deemed to be impossible given his multiple legal cases and felony conviction, has turned into a reality.

Trump now controls not only the White House, the House of Representatives, no matter how slip, and the Senate.

One might even go so far to surmise that he has the Supreme Court of the US at his back and call too, since three justices were elected into the bench during his first tenure (2017-2021).

If two justices were to resign or perish in office, Trump stands to nominate two more justices who meet his agenda on “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) as his appointees.

While not all US Supreme Court justices are beholden to the President of the US, the odds favour those who elect them.

In this sense, Trump is looking at a royal flush of controlling many levers of the US Federal government.

It is this entity, not the fifty states that formed the US, that serves as the interface with other countries in the world.

Hence, whether a country has the backing of a regional organisation such as the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for that matter, the European Union (EU), every country has to understand a simple fact: like it or not, they have to carefully understand what Trump is likely to do or nothing at all.

It is as if all countries that once believed in the doctrine of globalism of the US, known as the “Washington Consensus”, has to return to strict bilateralism.

How does one handle Trump in his own terms?

Take Israel, for example, ostensibly the one that enjoys a “special relationship” with the US for instance.

Instead of holding on firmly against any negotiation with Hamas, the group that represents a variety of militant entities in Gaza, that has held the hostages without any release in sight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has to cave in to Trump for now.

By releasing thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for three Israeli female hostages just prior to the inauguration of Trump on January 20, Netanyahu has to tip his hat to the power of Trump. That he does not want to office without any seeming progress on this issue.

To be sure, contrary to what Netanyahu has claimed on November 5, 2024, that he has had three phone calls with Trump on the day in which he won, a claim that has been proven to be untrue by Alistair Cooke, a former MI6 agent, the deception of Netanyahu had all the tell tail signs that he would want nothing but the optic of being seen as a “close friend” of Trump. Hence the lies that he told.

Yet in the eye of Trump, a leaked report in late December had Trump describing “Bibi (Netanyahu) as a dark and divisive figure.”

To be sure this was not a compliment at all. Trump was preparing for his second term in office by psychologically profiling “Bib” as someone who Trump does not like.

Thus, Israel’s gesture to release the hostages by batch over the next 42 days is but a resurrection of the same package of hostage exchange that has been around since May 2024, according to a credible source who has worked with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Interestingly, Ehud Barak was the Commander of Netanyahu, the latter still trying to earn his spurs in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

Israel’s cautious behaviour towards Trump is worthy of deeper reflection.

Not even a security ally that has been supplied with copious among of weapons can take Trump for granted.

Trump is Trump. A force into himself.

Thus, Trump would not attack the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which has now increased to thirty two member states, including Sweden and Finland in 2024, although he would gripe on the low yield from such spending.

Most countries do not meet the 2 per cent benchmark of any generosity.

As for ASEAN, Trump has no qualms with the likes of Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and potentially Malaysia.

In his first term, Trump set foot on all three countries, either to meet Chairman Kim Jong Um of North Korea, or to attend the East Asian Summit (EAS) in Manila.

Since Malaysia is holding the rotating Chairmanship of ASEAN, and is the coordinator of China-US relationship, as long as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is able to serve as a fair and judicious Chair, there is no reason why his pro-Palestinian stance alone is enough to put him in the crosshair of Trump’s infamous temper tantrums.

(Dr Phar Kim Beng is Expert Committee Member of the Centre of Regional Strategic Studies, CROSS, and Professor of ASEAN Studies at the ISTAC-IIUM.)