FOREIGN POLICY/MALAYSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump touted what he described as a plan by Malaysia Airlines Bhd. to spend between $10 billion and $20 billion on Boeing Co. jets and General Electric Co. engines as he opened a White House meeting with Malaysia’s prime minister.
Mr. Trump, in a public appearance with Prime Minister Najib Razak, cited the airline deal as a basis for strong ties between the two countries. Boeing said the deal involved 16 new planes. He also identified Malaysia as a strategic national-security ally in Asia, while playing down the significance of a fresh round of sanctions the United Nations Security Council approved against North Korea on Monday [9-11-17]…
The airline deal puts the administration in the unusual position of coaxing investment from a trade partner that the U.S. is also investigating for investment fraud.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the alleged looting of 1Malaysia Development Bhd., a Malaysian economic-development fund. The probe threatens to ensnare much of the country’s ruling elite, including Mr. Najib.
Mr. Trump didn’t mention the investigation during his public appearance with Mr. Najib. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Monday that the investigation was ‘apolitical, and certainly independent of anything taking place’ during meetings involving the president.
Instead, the two leaders’ were meeting to discuss a ‘wide range’ of regional issues and security concerns, including the halt of the Islamic State extremist group, North Korea’s push for nuclear weapons, and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.”
-Michael C. Bender, “Malaysian Leader Plays Up Aircraft Deals, Investments During U.S. Visit,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 12, 2017 10:08pm