PKR: So Mr PM, what did we get from the US?

PKR has urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to clarify if his White House visit involved talks on US efforts to recover US$1.7 billion in 1MDB-linked assets.

In a statement today, the party's communications chief Fahmi Fadzil said this would at least reflect some gains from the meeting on Putrajaya’s part.

"Although the repatriation of US$1.7 billion is little compared to the RM60 billion which Malaysia will invest (in the US), at least the country's dignity can be redeemed," he said.

Fahmi added that as of now, it is still not clear how Malaysia stands to benefit from the White House visit, while the US has come up on top.

According to the US Census Bureau, Malaysia has maintained a trade surplus with the US since 1985.

During the White House visit, Najib had pledged to spend around US$10 billion on Boeing planes and up to US$4 billion on US equity, or approximately RM60 billion in total.

However, it would appear that 1MDB – a scandal-plagued sovereign wealth fund established by the Najib administration in 2009 – was not on the discussion table.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is at present investigating 1MDB monies that were allegedly laundered in the country and is seeking to repatriate it.

PM: My words were misconstrued

The DOJ also claims that Malaysians were defrauded on a massive scale due to the scheme, but 1MDB and Putrajaya have denied that funds were missing from the company.

In his opening statement at the White House Cabinet Room, Najib said his purpose was to offer a "strong value proposition" and pledged that Malaysia would "help (the US) in terms of strengthening the US economy."

Although Najib said yesterday that his comments at the White House had been “misconstrued” by Malaysians, he made little attempt to clarify the comments explicitly.

"Sometimes statements made by leaders, including me, have been misconstrued to confuse the rakyat. This is especially so when I spoke to Trump at the White House recently.

"I said that I was there to strengthen the economy, which did not mean that we will contribute to the US' economy without receiving anything from its economy.

"I meant that we were not there to ask for alms but that we were there as a successful country which has the potential to be a significant global player," the prime minister said.- Mkini