Shutdown at Home, High Stakes in Asia: Trump’s Gyeongju Test

Trump is wheels up with Washington frozen and Asia heating fast. The White House wants this trip to move the story from a shutdown to deals, deterrence, and a reset of leverage in the Indo-Pacific .

He opens in Kuala Lumpur for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit. The marquee item is a proposed ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia. It is not peace, but it halts shooting along a tense border and buys time for verification and enforcement. Trump used tariff threats to get attention, then offered off-ramps both sides could accept. That part worked. Now comes the hard part: keeping local commanders and political factions on the same page once the cameras move on. He will also meet Prime Minister Anw

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