Malaysians will not be fooled by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's claim that the opposition sabotaged 1MDB to undermine investors' confidence in Malaysia, said DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

Referring to Najib's speech during a dinner with the US-Asean Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce recently, Lim said the premier was merely shifting the blame for the 1MDB debacle.

He said this strategy underestimated the intelligence of most Malaysians, as did the glowing local press coverage of Najib's meeting with US President Donald Trump.

These reports, he said, were out of sync with those from international news agencies, which, among other things, called the meeting as a "disaster" for both Malaysia and the US, primarily due to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations on both 1MDB and Trump.

On Najib's claim that his invitation to the White House was a recognition of Malaysia's status as a "rising star", Lim pointed out that many foreign leaders have already met with Trump – some from countries that that have "no pretence of democratic rule."

He added that the tone of the Najib-Trump meeting, which took place yesterday, was more like a "monarch" meeting a "minor chieftain," rather than between two equals.

The White House invited Najib to Washing DC on Sept 12 to discuss bilateral ties, trade and celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations.

While in Washington, Najib told US head of industries that there was a campaign to deliberately sabotage 1MDB to affect the confidence of international investors.

This, he said, was part of a failed attempt to topple the government in between elections.

BN strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan praised the speech in a tweet, saying: "Instead of avoiding the subject, PM went for the jugular right in the heart of DC."