COMMENT | There are moments when protocol collides with principle. US President Donald Trump’s visit to Kuala Lumpur, staged with spectacle, was one such moment.

To many Malaysians, it felt like the surrender of moral authority. Emir Research has consistently argued that Malaysia’s strength lies in credible neutrality, dignity in the Global South, and policy anchored in justice.

Hosting a figure repeatedly identified with enabling genocide already sits at odds with that stance.

Emir Research warned that rolling out the red carpet would trade Malaysia’s hard-won moral capital for a fleeting photo opportunity. A nation’s credibility is worth more than a handshake that sanitises harm.

If the optics were troubling, the substance is worse: behind the rhetoric of “reciprocity” lies a deal that...