Trump wants Thai-Cambodian signing peace agreement in ASEAN summit to boost Nobel peace ambitious

President Donald Trump wants to burnish his global peacemaker credentials at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Malaysia later this month./ Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

7th October 2025, US President Donald Trump has asked to preside over the signing of peace between Thailand and Cambodia in the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, later this month.

South East Asia is hoping to negotiate concessions to punish the tariffs imposed by Washington when they meet in Malaysia on 26th - 28th October, according to Trump's request to hold the signing ceremony.

The combat between the shared border of Thailand and Cambodia across five days in early August, killing at least 43 people.

Both two members of the Association in Southeast Asia later agreed to start peace negotiations after Trump threatened to shelve tariff talks without negotiation to a ceasefire.

Thai army and police prepare to lay barbed wire in a disputed area along the Thai-Cambodian border in Banteay Meanchey province on September 17. / Photo: Agence Kampuchea Press/AFP

Trump wanted a special ceremony on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit to stake his claim on initiating the peace process.

This is a top of the ceasefire deal since 7th August, mediated by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The ambitiousness of the US leader has been feasible to win the Nobel Peace prize, claiming that Trump as a “Peacemaker-in-Chief” has brought the end of 7 global conflicts since his return to the White House in January.

The White House officials said the ceremony was a condition to attend the ASEAN summit, according to Politico, also cited the White House’s sources as saying that the summit organisers were requested to exclude Chinese officials from the event.

Thailand and Cambodia have traded blame in the tension and clashed at least once after the ceasefire announcement started. The tension between the border and military deployment of the two nations, awakening the nationalism from both countries with rhetoric and press from two leaders, which have not made territorial concessions.

A fragile ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia has held even as they trade fresh accusations every day./ Photo: Getty Images

This year's ASEAN summit is expected to invite the usual high-profile. Besides Trump, China’s Premier Li Qiang, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Luiz Inachio Lula da Silva and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa are due to attend.   

All 10 leaders in the Southeast Asia region are expected to seek bilateral deals to secure trade stability after imposed tariffs between 10-40% since August.

The growth in Southeast Asia region has been impacted by a hit as tariffs crimp US demand for the region’s vital export, economists have said, the pressure on ASEAN countries to seek for new markets to change the export trade routes.

SOURCE: South China Morning Post

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