KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today quipped that he and US President Donald Trump “shared a lot in common” — including the fact that one had been to prison, and the other nearly ended up there.
Anwar made the joke to Trump during the 47th Asean Summit and Related Summits at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), as he recalled hitching a ride earlier in the presidential limousine, Cadillac One — also known as “The Beast”.
“One of which is that I was in prison, and you almost got there,” he said during the signing of the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord.
Anwar‘s remark drew laughter from those present.
In 2024, Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
However, on January 10 this year, a US court sentenced him to an unconditional discharge just days before he was sworn in as the 47th president, sparing him any jail term for the conviction.
Today’s visit marks Trump’s first visit to the South-east Asian region since taking office as the 47th President of the US in January 2025.
Trump is the third US president in history to visit Malaysia after Lyndon B Johnson in 1966 and Barack Obama in 2014 and 2015.
