Najib urged to focus on national interests ahead of Trump meet

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should focus on national interests and bilateral relations at his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Aug 12, advised a PKR man today.

“There is speculation that the prime minister will raise (the issue of) the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigations relating to his family, associates and ‘Malaysian Official 1’ at this White House meeting.

“We urge the prime minister to focus on national interests first and national interests only. The meeting should be strictly on bilateral relations.

“The country should come first over personal matters,” said PKR strategy director Sim Tze Tzin at the party’s headquarters.

In June, the DOJ published its batch of court filings against 1MDB-linked accounts, saying it was out to seize US$540 million (RM2.27 billion) in assets including pink diamonds, a superyacht, and a fitness chain.

Sim, who is also the Bayan Baru MP, also cautioned Najib against “selling national strategic assets” to the US to pay off debts incurred by 1MDB.

1MDB sold all its energy assets, comprising Edra Global Energy Bhd and its subsidiaries, to state-owned China General Nuclear Corporation (CGN) under a US$2.3 billion (RM9.68 billion) cash deal in March last year.

Naib was also advised to focus on bringing in foreign direct investment (FDI), and be cautious of the US selling Malaysia weapons it neither needs nor can afford.

“Our security threats are regional terrorist groups “He (Trump) has pushed weapon sales to Saudi Arabia (US$110 billion) and Taiwan (US$1.42 billion). Just yesterday he announced that he would allow Japan and South Korea to buy substantially more weapons.

with no access to sophisticated weapons. Given our economic stagnation and high national debt, there is no necessity to buy sophisticated big-ticket weapons from the US,” added Sim.

Najib’s upcoming meeting with Trump has garnered much national and international attention, with The Washington Post publishing a scathing op-ed that called Najib a “nationalist with authoritarian tendencies,” and noted how both premiers are currently involved in major DOJ probes.

A former US ambassador to Malaysia said that Najib should not count on Trump calling off his DOJ investigation, but should focus instead on explaining why North Korean spy agency and arms dealer Glocom was allowed to operate in Malaysia.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad also chimed in, calling the White House visit the “peak of global foreign interference” into Malaysian politics.