Who knows what Donald Trump recalls of his first presidency or how much of what went on during those four years will inform the next. Thanks to lobbying by American businessmen in Vietnam and lobbyists paid by Hanoi, Trump was initially favorable toward Vietnam. Then-Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was one of the first world leaders to speak to Trump after his election victory in 2016, and Phuc was the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the first Trump White House.
Trump visited Vietnam twice (in 2017 and 2019), more than any other Southeast Asian country. He oversaw the first sales of U.S.
military equipment to Vietnam. He selected Hanoi as the venue for his ill-fated talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2019. Vietnam’s reputation was the only winner of those talks.
However, Trump’s view of Vietnam started to sour in 2019. That year, he accused it of being the “worst abuser” of trade practices. His administration began the process of sanctioning Vietnam for alleged currency manipulation, although that was quickly stopped by the Biden administration.
Hanoi has been unnerved throughout the year by the prospect of another Trump presidency, although its leaders have all now offered their congratulations for his victory this week. On the campaign trail, he vowed to impose a blanket 10-20 percent tariff on all imports from all countries. As the largest exporter to the U.
S. in Southeast Asia and, after Singapore, the country most dependent on foreign trade, that.
