Bilahari Kausikan, Calvin Cheng say Trump pick for S'pore Ambassador could do well thanks to personal relationship

Singapore’s former top diplomat, Bilahari Kausikan, has defended U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to Singapore, Anjani Sinha, following Sinha's rough Senate confirmation hearing.

On July 9, Sinha was grilled during the hearing and left Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth accusing him of not doing his “homework” after he struggled with her questions.

In response to a Singaporean netizen who was doubtful of Trump’s pick, Bilahari defended Sinha in a Facebook post the following day.

“We should treat the new ambassador with courtesy and respect and not prejudge him,” he said.

Delivered when it counted

Before his retirement, Bilahari was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He has since been an influential commenter on Southeast Asian and global developments.

In his post, he raised the example of Richard Kniep, a former U.S. ambassador to Singapore who served from 1978 to 1980 under the 39th U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Pointing out that Kniep had been “more viciously humiliated” than Sinha for failing to answer questions at his confirmation hearings, Bilahari suggested that it was Kniep’s close ties with the former president that had benefited Singapore.

“Kniep delivered for Singapore when it counted,” said Bilahari, “calling Carter and getting us an exemption from Carter’s policy of not introducing new weapons systems into regions where they did not already exist and enabling us to upgrade our air-defences.”

The president’s golf buddy

He noted that Sinha was also close to Trump, as he played golf with the president and was his son’s orthopaedic surgeon.

“This is not quite the same relationship as Kniep had with Carter, but not nothing either and certainly better than the normal State Dept types who are despised by the MAGA group.”

He added, “In any case, what’s the advantage for us to join the braying anti-Trump pack?”

Former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng shared a similar take: “Trump’s U.S. ambassador to Singapore has one job: to be able to personally get on the phone with the President, and pitch on our behalf, when we need him to.”

Cheng added:

“He doesn’t need to know what our trade balance is, or that it is the U.S. seventh fleet that has a presence in Singapore.

He doesn’t need normal Singaporeans to like him either.

Given Dr Anjani Sinha’s ostensibly close personal relationship with Trump, he will make a great ambassador.”

Confirmation hearing

Sinha’s Senate confirmation hearing the day before had left Duckworth questioning his suitability for the role, reminiscent of when she grilled U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth during his hearing in January.

“Frankly, I don’t think you are particularly qualified for this role,” she said. “And I’m concerned about how your lack of understanding may even inadvertently cause friction in our critical relationship.”

When asked to name the trade surplus, Sinha said "US$18 billion", which Duckworth noted was off by a huge factor. The actual trade surplus is close to US$3 billion (S$3.84 billion).

“I just feel that you are not taking this seriously,” she said. “You think this is going to be a glamour posting, that you’re going to live a nice life in Singapore, but what we need is someone who’s going to actually do the work.”

She also asked Sinha about Trump's proposed tariffs on Singapore, despite our trade surplus with the U.S., the only Southeast Asian country that maintains this.

Sinha replied, “We are not walking away from any dialogue between the two countries and two leaders. If confirmed, I will make a personal relation with the government of Singapore, and I will make sure the dialogue continues and we settle the issues of trade together.”

In response to a follow-up question, he added, “I believe in [the] President’s decision of a free trade with any nation in the world, and he’s resetting the trade numbers with each country and he’s open for discussion and dialogue with these countries.”

So… will he be our U.S. ambassador?

Trump had announced his nomination for Sinha back in March, posting on Truth Social, “Anji is a highly respected entrepreneur, with an incredible family!”

“The United States’ relationship with Singapore is vital, and I have no doubt that Anji will strongly represent our nation’s interests, and put America First. Congratulations Anji!” he added, not revealing much about the orthopaedic and sports medicine surgeon.

According to The Straits Times, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in attendance at the hearing, will vote on whether they will recommend Sinha to the full Senate. He will require a simple majority vote from the Senate to be confirmed.

Top image via National University of Singapore & U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations