IT did not take long for a modest purchase of eight Boeing 787 Dreamliners costing US$2.2 billion to turn into a commitment for at least 50 of the US plane maker’s latest long-haul passenger jet.

Prime Minister Najib Razak and his delegation were modest in their needs to get Malaysia Airlines flying back into the black again.

The flag carrier had cut routes, and is now back to breaking even with an eye to expand again beyond Australasian destinations and the lone Kuala Lumpur-London route.

Eight Boeing 787s would be enough, after the 50 Boeing 737s bought in the last decade. 

But United States President Donald Trump thought otherwise as he and Najib got comfortable and found much common ground between them in their White House meeting in Washington overnight.

It did not take long for Najib to understand what the businessman-turned-reality-star-turned-politician wanted from him.

Trade and investment, as can be seen from the focus of Trump’s unscheduled press conference after both the Malaysian and US delegations met.

Officials told The Malaysian Insight that Najib understood the Trump administration was interested in job creation and local investments which was his central campaign promise.

Trump wanted to make America great again and he impressed that upon Najib. In a few hours of their meeting, the modest Boeing deal became a US$10 billion commitment for more jets and engines from General Electric.

That Boeing deal is being fleshed out now and will most likely be signed when Trump visits Malaysia in November, the second US president to meet Najib in Kuala Lumpur after president Barack Obama in 2014 and 2015.

Trump also praised Najib for Malaysia’s investments in US equities and wrangled from him future investments between US$3 billion and US$4 billion. 

All in all, it was a profitable visit for Trump and the United States. More jobs, more investments that would make America great again.

For Najib, it was an insight to closer ties with Trump and Washington, particularly after leaning closer to President Xi Jinping and Beijing for trade and investments into Malaysia.

It also makes him one of the few leaders of a country that is close to both the US and China, which appears to be on different sides of the spectrum when it comes to trade, investments and human rights. – September 13, 2017.