Will a second Trump presidency reshape Southeast Asia’s trade, security landscape?

Southeast Asian nations will face heightened uncertainty over security and trade when US president-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, but the ability to adapt has been part of the region’s “psyche and strategy” when dealing with Washington for a long time, experts say.

The biggest risk for the region would be how the next administration approaches its defence partnerships and network of alliances, said Hoang Thi Ha, a researcher at Singapore’s ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.

“Given Trump’s scepticism towards alliances, that would be very uncertain for the future of this achievement under the Biden administration,” Hoang said at a panel organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore on Tuesday.

She was among the four speakers at a forum discussing the implications of a second Trump administration on Southeast Asia including security and economics.

However, Hoang was optimistic that the region was well-prepared to handle the uncertainties posed by the next US government.

“Dealing with the periodic uncertainties of the US foreign policy as well as the US presence and engagement in Asia and Southeast Asia in particular, with the four-year cycle of the US presidential election, is actually a structural element of our relations with the US over many, many decades,” Hoang said.