ON the eve of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s White House visit, a major US newspaper has urged President Donald Trump to cancel the meeting over concerns about the 1MDB scandal.

The Wall Street Journal said there were few benefits to hosting Najib at the presidential residence, seen as a plum invitation coveted by many world leaders.

“Any embarrassment is better than giving a scandal-tainted leader a White House photo-op,” the editorial said, pushing for an excuse to cancel the visit.

The business daily questioned the wisdom of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who visited Malaysia a month ago, for pursuing the association with Najib, whom the US Department of Justice is investigating.

The DoJ has launched a criminal investigation into funds allegedly siphoned off from 1Malaysia Development Bhd and has sought to delay civil suits filed in the past two years to forfeit more than US$1 billion (RM4.3 billion) in real estate and other assets.

Najib, who until last year was the chairman of 1MDB’s advisory board, has denied any wrongdoing and was cleared by the attorney-general of any involvement in the state investor’s multi-billion-ringgit losses.

“Perhaps Mr Tillerson thinks Malaysia will help tighten the financial screws on North Korea, which has long used the country as a business hub. But Mr Najib isn’t likely to stop his strategic drift towards China. Keeping 1MDB afloat will require cash infusions, and China, eager to help fellow authoritarians, can deploy its One Belt, One Road slush fund. Mr Najib can then buy off the opposition and consolidate power,” the WSJ editorial said.

The daily also highlighted how former president Barack Obama, too, cosied up to Najib when he visited Malaysia in April 2014 and in December, Obama invited the prime minister for a round of golf in Hawaii.

But in less than a year, Najib “humiliated” Trump’s predecessor by jailing former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim on charges of sodomy for the second time.

The benefits of pursuing a close relationship with Najib are not obvious, said WSJ, highlighting the fact that Malaysia is now firmly in Beijing’s orbit.

It suggests that the Trump administration trot out a diplomatic excuse in Hurricanes Harvey and Irma or congressional battles to cancel Najib’s visit. – September 8, 2017.