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Malaysia Weighs Trump Nominee Nick Adams as Protests Escalate

Malaysia’s leaders face public protests over Adams’s Islam-critical posts, with a U.S. tariff deadline pressuring them to decide on accepting a non-career nominee.

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Protesters in Muslim-majority Malaysia hold signs during a demonstration against the US envoy nominee Nick Adams outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur on July 18, 2025. Trump nominated Nick Adams, an outspoken and self-proclaimed "alpha male" a week ago.
Protesters hold pictures of Nick Adams as they protest U.S. President Donald Trump's nomination of Nick as the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia, outside the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain
Malaysians protested near the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur against President Donald Trump's nomination of a right-wing commentator as envoy to the Muslim-majority nation

Overview

  • President Donald Trump nominated influencer and commentator Nick Adams as U.S. ambassador to Malaysia, breaking with precedent by choosing a non-career diplomat.
  • On July 18, youth leaders and dozens of demonstrators delivered a memorandum to the U.S. embassy in Kuala Lumpur to reject Adams over his past comments on Islam and support for Israel’s Gaza campaign.
  • Malaysian authorities say the cabinet has not received formal notice of Adams’s appointment and remains undecided on whether to accept his credentials.
  • Adams still requires U.S. Senate confirmation before he can be appointed and present his diplomatic credentials under the Vienna Convention.
  • Malaysia’s deliberation coincides with an August 1 deadline to strike a trade agreement with Washington that could avert a threatened 25% tariff on its exports.