Southeast Asian leaders will express deep concern over US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz when they meet at a summit Monday, warning that the unilateral move posed huge challenges to economic growth and stability in the region, according to a draft statement seen by AFP. Trump’s tariffs has roiled global markets and upended international commerce, and left leaders from the 10-member ASEAN bloc scrambling for ways to limit the fallout on their trade-dependent economies.The bloc is also caught between the trade battle between their biggest trading partners, the United States and China, on which Washington has heaped the highest tariffs.According to a draft statement expected to be issued by ASEAN leaders after they meet on Monday, they express “deep concern… over the imposition of unilateral tariff measures”.Trump’s measures “pose complex and multidimensional challenges to ASEAN’s economic growth, stability, and integration”, according to the draft of the ASEAN chairman’s statement seen by AFP.The leaders also “reaffirmed ASEAN’s collective commitment” to the global free trading system, it said.After the bloc’s meeting on Monday, the leaders are to hold a one-day summit with China and Middle Eastern oil producers.The diplomatic dance continues later in the week in neighbouring Singapore, where the Shangri-La Dialogue forum is expected to draw defence chiefs including US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, while French President Emmanuel Macron was due to give the keynote speech.ASEAN, with Malaysia holding its rotating chair this year, has traditionally kept a neutral stance in global power contests but that policy is under strain because of Trump’s protectionist moves, analysts say.Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has called for a joint ASEAN action plan to address the growing tariff threat.Anwar said at a pre-summit briefing that, while bilateral talks between member states and the United States would continue, the bloc must present a united front.”We also have one position as ASEAN in our talks,” he said.The group, Anwar said, “had very practical policies… and what to me is of critical importance is to build that cohesion within ASEAN”.The pressure to shift ASEAN’s “friend to all” posture will likely intensify during the follow-up summit on Tuesday when Chinese Premier Li Qiang joins the bloc’s leaders and officials from oil-rich Gulf states, observers said.-‘Principled friend’ -Beijing has been courting closer ties with Southeast Asia, positioning itself as a “reliable trading partner” despite tensions with ASEAN members over rival claims in the South China Sea.Li will attend the first-time summit between ASEAN, Beijing and oil-producing nations including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.That follows Chinese President Xi Jinping urging greater cooperation between Beijing and Malaysia “to safeguard the bright prospects of our Asian family” during a Southeast Asian diplomatic charm offensive in April.Anwar said in return that Malaysia would “remain an unwavering and principled friend to China”.However, anger over US tariffs also meant that ASEAN countries “won’t automatically fall in China’s arms”, a diplomatic source, who asked not to be identified, told AFP.”It’s not a binary situation. ASEAN knows that China is just like the US in that it’s a big power which will bully them when it wants to,” the source said.And “while the general consensus is that they are angry at the US… nobody wants to offend Washington either”.James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania, warned that playing to both the United States and China was a “high-risk strategy”.The danger of staying neutral is “that every single foreign policy action that you take will then be scrutinised” by each opposing power, Chin said.Others said ASEAN’s policy of neutrality remained valid.”The rest of the world should not have any problem with ASEAN’s position to ‘be friends with everyone’,” said S. Munirah Alatas, a geopolitics specialist at the University of Malaya’s Allianz Centre for Governance.However, she said the bloc still faced tough unresolved challenges, including “hostilities in Myanmar and recurring tensions in the South China Sea”.”But successfully addressing these are not premised on ASEAN’s neutral geopolitical position,” she said.

US President Donald Trump hosted a closed-door dinner for hundreds of top investors in his crypto memecoin Thursday, as sign-holding protesters outside and Democratic opponents decried the event as blatant “corruption.”The unprecedented melding of US presidential power and personal business took place at Trump’s golf club outside Washington, where Trump flew by helicopter to meet the 220 biggest purchasers of his $TRUMP memecoin.The top 25 investors, according to an event website, were to get a private session with Trump beforehand and a White House tour.Trump launched the memecoin three days before his inauguration in January, quickly increasing his net worth by billions and prompting major, first-of-their-kind ethics questions.The White House downplayed those concerns Thursday, insisting Trump was attending in his “personal time.”The president posted on his Truth Social platform ahead of the event that “the U.S.A. is DOMINATING in Crypto, Bitcoin, etc.” and pledged to “keep it that way.”Photos posted online by attendees to the dinner — press were not allowed inside — showed a lectern sporting the presidential seal, apparently for Trump to deliver remarks.Protesters gathered outside the golf course despite rainy skies, some carrying signs reading “stop crypto corruption” and “no kings.”Earlier in the day, Democratic senators held a press conference to denounce the event and call for disclosure of who would be attending.Calling the dinner “an orgy of corruption,” Senator Elizabeth Warren slammed Trump for “using the presidency of the United States to make himself richer through crypto.”Data analytics firm Inca Digital has confirmed that many transactions occurred through international exchanges unavailable in the United States, suggesting foreign buyers.- ‘Slap in the face’ -A site listing the “official winners” of $TRUMP coin holders included only usernames and digital wallet addresses, with the number-one spot held by “Sun.”Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun has touted a $20 million commitment to the memecoin as part of his $93 million total investment in Trump-linked crypto ventures.Sun, founder of top 10 cryptocurrency TRON, was under investigation by US authorities for market manipulation, but regulators, now controlled by Trump appointees, agreed in February to a 60-day pause to seek a settlement.”Apparently, I’m at the VIP lounge waiting for the President to come with everybody,” a tuxedo-clad Sun said in a video posted on X Thursday evening. Trump departed the golf course just over an hour after his arrival.Justin Unga of advocacy group End Citizens United described the crypto dinner as a blatant example of Trump profiting from the presidency while roiling the US economy.”Some say this is a back door to corruption,” Unga said.”I would argue it’s the front door with valet parking, and it’s got a red carpet… and a slap in the face of hard working Americans.”- Expanding empire -The dinner came as the US Senate is pushing through legislation to more clearly regulate cryptocurrencies, a long-sought request of the industry, and as Trump expands his business network into the field.Senators on Monday advanced a landmark bill known as the GENIUS Act that proposes a regulatory framework for stablecoins — a type of crypto token seen as more predictable for investors as its value is pegged to hard currencies like the dollar.Bitcoin’s price hit a new all-time high on Thursday, climbing above $111,000 before falling slightly.Trump’s newfound enthusiasm for digital currencies has expanded into multiple ventures led primarily by his eldest sons.Their growing portfolio includes investments in Binance, a major crypto exchange whose founder seeks a presidential pardon to re-enter the US market.This investment flows through World Liberty Financial, a Trump family-backed venture launched last September with significant Mideast deals. The company’s founding team includes Donald Jr. and Eric Trump alongside Zach Witkoff, son of Trump’s diplomatic adviser.President Trump has taken concrete steps to reduce regulatory barriers, including an executive order establishing a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” for government holdings of the leading digital currency.

Asian equities stabilised Friday following the previous day’s US bond-fuelled sell-off with traders tracking a slight pullback in Treasury yields as Donald Trump’s signature tax-cutting budget passed a key congressional vote.Worries about the US budget deficit have returned to the fore this week after Moody’s removed its top-tier credit rating and the president pushed ahead with a budget that some suggest will expand the country’s ballooning debt.A tepid auction of 20-year Treasuries on Wednesday ramped up those concerns, dealing a blow to stocks that had just recovered from the April fireworks of Trump’s tariff blitz.Still, risk appetite returned in New York on Thursday, with yields pulling back after the Republican-led House narrowly passed Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act”, which shrinks social safety net programmes to pay for a 10-year extension of his 2017 tax cuts.The package, which now goes to the Senate, had faced scepticism from fiscal hawks who fear the country is headed for bankruptcy, with independent analysts warning it would increase the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over a decade.But the White House insists it will spur growth of up to 5.2 percent, ensuring it adds nothing to the $36 trillion national debt — growth projections that are well outside the mainstream consensus.There is a feeling that “perhaps the fiscal worries have gone a bit too far”, said Pepperstone’s Chris Weston.”Many have crunched the numbers on the tax bill and see the raft of measures to not be overly stimulatory and to therefore result in a major blowout of the deficit in 2026 and 2027 and is, in fact, quite neutral in its effect.”The drop in Treasury yields — suggesting improving demand for US debt — was helped by upbeat data on the jobs market, home sales and factory activity that observers said indicated the economy remained healthy.A mixed day on Wall Street was followed by a largely positive start in Asia.Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul and Manila all rose, though Singapore, Jakarta, Taipei and Wellington struggled.There was a little cheer from comments by Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller, who said interest rates could be cut in the second half of the year if Trump’s tariffs come back down to around 10 percent.”If we can get the tariffs down closer to 10 percent and then that’s all sealed, done and delivered somewhere by July, then we’re in good shape for the second half of the year,” he told Fox Business.The dollar slipped against the yen as figures showed Japanese inflation rose more than expected owing to a surge in food prices, particularly rice.The reading turns the focus on the Bank of Japan as it considers its next move on monetary policy after a recent spate of interest rate hikes and in light of Trump’s tariffs. Bitcoin pressed on with its latest rally, hitting a fresh record of $111,980.33, on hopes for a cryptocurrency bill on the regulation of so-called stablecoins, digital coins with value tied to the dollar. This has led to optimism for future regulatory clarity in the sector, including for bitcoin, which is not directly linked to the dollar.- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 37,280.84 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3 percent at 23,624.64Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,383.81Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.88 yen from 143.99 yen on ThursdayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1295 from $1.1281 Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3432 from $1.3419Euro/pound: UP at 84.10 pence from 84.07 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $60.86 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $64.12 per barrelNew York – Dow: FLAT at 41,859.09 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,739.26 (close)