Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been told by his advisers to tone down his support for the Hamas terrorist group to prevent U.S. President Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on Kuala Lumpur, Bloomberg reported this week, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia and its Economy Ministry initially failed to answer a Bloomberg request for comment on Wednesday, while its International Trade and Industry Ministry declined to respond.
Speaking with reporters in Bahrain on Thursday, Ibrahim said he was “not choosing to oppose anyone, but wherever there is oppression and cruelty, we must stand in defense of the oppressed.” He continued, “We have our own stance and have expressed it firmly on various platforms.”
According to the Bloomberg report, Malaysian officials are becoming increasingly worried that the new U.S. administration will impose higher tariffs on the Southeast Asian nation’s export-heavy economy.
More specifically, Kuala Lumpur is concerned Trump could take action against the country’s “burgeoning semiconductor industry and a raft of AI-powered data center investments,” the U.S. outlet’s sources said.
America is Muslim-majority Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner—slightly behind China and Singapore—and it is one of the largest holders of foreign investment stock in the country, according to the State Department.
Following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel, Malaysia’s prime minister called the terrorist group’s then “political” leader Ismail Haniyeh to express his “unwavering support for the Palestinian people.”
Ibrahim also condemned Jerusalem’s military response in the Gaza Strip, referring to the ground operation as “genocide” and “the height of barbarism,” while describing Hamas murderers as “freedom fighters.”
Defying calls by the Biden administration to cut ties with the Islamist terrorist group, Ibrahim sat down with top Hamas leaders in Doha in May 2024.
However, in an interview with CNN‘s Richard Quest that aired shortly after Trump was re-elected in November, Ibrahim answered “yes” to the question of whether he recognizes Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.
“The only concern, Richard, is the attempt by the discourse, particularly in the West, to erase the decades prior to October the 7th,” Ibrahim told the U.S. broadcaster. “We must stop the excesses on both sides.”
Malaysia, a country with sizable Buddhist and Christian minorities, does not have diplomatic relations with Jerusalem.
At the same time, Hamas’s “military” wing is known to run operations in Malaysia. In 2010, Hamas sent a group of men to the country to train in paragliding. Hamas used paragliders to infiltrate Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.