Covfefe - US President Donald Trump

COMMENT | The upcoming visit of Donald Trump will be another opportunity for extremists to vent. As the Asean chair, Malaysia’s invitation to the US president, as odious as he is, should be a non-issue for rational thinking people.

Calls to revoke the invitation are the craven political plays of local politicians who are very much like the acolytes who support and are enabled by Trump in the US.

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh, for instance, belongs in the coterie of toxic and incompetent personalities that Trump places in positions of power.

Supporters of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (including the religious outfits sanctioned by the state) are bending over backwards attempting to justify Trump’s participation.

But the reality is that Asean leaders are no doubt welcoming this news as a chance for facetime (for whatever reasons) or to “make a deal” with probably the biggest kleptocrat in the world, and the president who truly embodies the notion that cash is king.