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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.

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.