COMMENT | US President Donald Trump is not one to let slip an opportunity for attention and publicity. Not unlike a former president, the similarly boorish Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1909), who was described thus: “He wants to be the bridegroom at every marriage and the corpse at every funeral”.

After making Arab and Muslim countries dance to his tune with his Gaza Peace Plan, why begrudge Trump a bit of dancing to our tune with some 600 million Aseaners watching? But just in case no one noticed, his version of joget looked suspiciously similar to his trademark campaign dance/shuffle.

And never mind that the role of these same countries in supporting Trump’s peace plan is far more vague than their motives. Indonesia, Turkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and the UAE led the charge. Cautiously supporting them from the sidelines were Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

Every one of these countries had its own agenda apart from...