Beneath the bated breath that American decision-makers have gone off rails, which is the collective rumination of many global leaders, corporate or otherwise, all eyes are on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is holding the Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2025, if the Malaysian leader to handle the rambunctious nature of President Donald Trump?

The answer, without a shadow of doubt, is a Yes.

To begin with, Trump does not drink nor smoke. Neither does Anwar.

For those who don’t understand the bonding of teetotaller, the chemistry is instant.

What is diplomacy other than inter personal chemistry?

Trump respects leaders who dare to call a spade a spade.

Even prior to Trump’s victory on November 5, 2024, Anwar has warned Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea to behave. This clarion call was made in Seoul National University in the middle of October.

While Trump is an iconoclastic leader, who Bob Reilly affirmed, “can’t stand a moment of tedium”, not even in a “baseball game”, Anwar has no patience for leaders who pander to hypocrisy both local and abroad. A trait that Trump regales in.

Anwar, when he was the Finance Minister in 1997, once lashed out against all the credit rating firms in the US: “If they are watching us, who are watching them?”

Trump has a deep penchant that the Deep State, whatever its make-up, is trying to put the squeeze on him.

As a former political prisoner, Anwar has been subject to nothing less for more than 26 years, even confined in almost half that time in solitary confinement, a fact that Trump can empathise.

At least long enough to understand the importance of knowing Anwar first hand. Ideally at the East Asian Summit in October 2025 in Kuala Lumpur.

The relationship between President Xi Jinping and Trump has not been properly reconciled yet.

At Davos, Anwar has affirmed time and again in January 2025, that Malaysia would convene the leaders of ASEAN and related summits, to meet in Kuala Lumpur, with a heavy focus on Trump and Xi getting along to avert a zero-sum Sino-US rivalry.

Trump rejoices in being interviewed by the likes of Joe Rogan. Anwar is not impervious to such long interviews too, spanning three to four hours should the invitation be extended to Anwar.

The moment this is done, Anwar would be the first Asian leader to join the likes of Trump and Musk to have graced the program. Kamala Harris turned it down.

Anwar has explained that Malaysia is all for a one China policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has affirmed that the Trump administration will not be nudging any independence movement in Taiwan. Such a view is consistent with that of Anwar too.

Anwar can make do with three to four hours of sleep a day. Being nocturnal is not a problem for Anwar. Trump too.

While Trump likes Coca-Cola and Big Mac, there are no dietary restrictions on Anwar to share the same with Trump by chomping down on a McDonald’s or a Malay Double Burger Special with Trump, if the two have to roll up their sleeves to get to work.

Trump has survived assassination attempts. Instead of being held to the floor by the Secret Service, Trump insisted of standing up to rally the supporters with: “Fight, fight, fight!”

The creed of Anwar in politics has always been “Lawan tetap lawan” (The fight against oppression must go on.)

Trump golfs a lot. But he sticks to his course at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. When abroad, Trump is all business mixed with humour that is at once caustic and barbed.

Being proficient with English, an interviewer once asked Anwar if he was still vindictive against Mahathir?”

To which Anwar replied to Mehdi Hasan, “Isn’t it enough to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia?”

Trump was within a hair breath of missing out on becoming the second President. So was Anwar after much struggle. Trump cannot help but be impressed by this ground.

Trump also likes jiving on the stand as and when he clinches an electoral victory. Trumps shimmies and move his elbows when remained stationery.

Knowingly or not, Trump has performed the Malay “joget” which is not peculiar to Anwar or the millions of joget dancers in this region.

Nelly, an American Rapper, has named the dance “Trumpin”, the joget of Nusantara which President of Indonesia had also performed much to the delight of the youth in stadiums teeming with hundreds of thousands of supporters has done it too.

Trump enjoys large crowds. It is not beyond the capacity of Anwar, a close confidante of Prabowo, to deliver the stage to Trump.

Anwar and Trump are not ideologues in the strictest sense of the world. While Trump believes in “Making America Great Again”, Anwar is just as tenacious in “Making Malaysian An Asian Tiger” once again.

Their political objectives of increasing the industrial production of their respective countries are the same.

Genuine communication between the two can come from heart to heart even though the speech acts of both leaders can seem at odds.

With Trump defending America to do whatever it wants, while Anwar insisting that a better world is invariably a multilateral one.

This is not necessarily a conflict since the likes of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), an FTA that will be the largest in the world, has been essentially preserved by Japanese Prime Minister after the assassination of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022.

Trump has dialled down the need for an Indo-Pacific Strategy which he first introduced in 2019.

In the previous interaction of this strategy, the key was to keep up with China, as Beijing increasingly resorted to “wolf warrior diplomacy”.

Of late, such a style of diplomacy in Beijing has been significantly toned down too. Anwar and many leaders in ASEAN are less susceptible to being pressured by China to go against the US.

Meanwhile, Trump’s National Security Council is more focused on handling China face to face, rather than galvanising ASEAN and other countries to have a face-to-face debate on whether the shortcomings of the US and China may be located in the supply chain.

With Trump threatening to slap tariffs on various countries, the goal is to compel then to return to the US to prevent the further de-industrialisation of the US.

Malaysia contributes 3.5 per cent of the computer chips needed in the main by the US. Trump is not necessarily likely to link Malaysia to any unfair trade practices since most of the firms that export the chips back to mainland US are indeed American in background over the last 50 years.

All-in-all, it is not necessarily a given that Trump and Anwar, by extension ASEAN and related summits cannot work with Trump or the Trump administration.

As the chair of ASEAN, Anwar has to represent ASEAN as an observer in G20 together with Indonesia which is a full member.

As for Palestine, the fate of the country has to be discussed at ASEAN and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Kuala Lumpur, too.

Although Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was the first Japan, indeed East Asian, leader to speak of Japan and Malaysia utilising the Conference on Cooperation of East Asian countries on Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) which is the regional approach of ASEAN Plus 3 on Palestinian reconstruction of the most critical infrastructures.

Anwar is cushioned by a motley collection of East Asian countries some of which are allies of the US, such as Japan and South Korea, not excluding Thailand and the Philippines, to look into the parlous state of Gaza, which Trump himself admitted had become a “demolition site”.

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