PARLIAMENT | Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today spoke about the influence Malaysia has on the United States and other world powerhouses.

He told the Dewan Rakyat how he was able to persuade US President Donald Trump to include the oppression and cleansing of ethnic Rohingya in Myanmar into their discussion, although it was not on their initial agenda.

"I want to inform this House that the Rohingya issue was not stated in our initial communication, but I requested President Trump to agree to discuss, and the White House (subsequently) included the issue (on the agenda)," Najib said during a question-and-answer session this morning.

"This is among the successes of Malaysia where the country has an influence on the international platform and powerhouses."

Najib said the special treatment given by Trump in their meeting last month was a manifestation of the friendship between Malaysia and US.

The efforts of Malaysia, together with other parties, had led the US to provide US$32 million in humantarian aid to Rohingya, as well as its decision to cut off its military assistance to Myanmar, according to Najib.

During his trip, Najib told Trump that he wanted to help strengthen the US economy.

Among the deals Najib and Trump had agreed on during the meeting was that the Malaysian aviation industry would buy up to US$20 billion of US-made passenger planes and aircraft engines.

Najib had also announced that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) would increase its US investments by up to US$4 billion.

"Despite not staying at the Blair House (official accommodation for visiting foreign guests of the US government), I was invited to play golf with President Trump and he sent me to the car," he added.

Unlike his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Najib said, he did not need to fork out money to meet Trump.

"My predecessor had done that (paid money) to secure an invite to meet (former US president George W Bush)," he added.

Najib previously claimed that Mahathir had spent millions to secure a meeting with Bush, which the Pakatan Harapan chairperson had denied.

Mahathir had met with Bush in 2002 and had for years been accused of paying for the meeting.

The Washington Post reported that Mahathir had allegedly hired Washington lobbyists through the US-based Heritage Foundation to persuade the White House to agree to the meeting by paying RM5.3 million. 

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Permatang Pauh) then asked if Malaysia would take sides with the US and no longer uphold its neutral stand in diplomacy.

Najib responded that his administration is consistant with its neutral stand and denied there was any "U-turn" being made with regard to US diplomatic policy.