Trump Praises Prabowo's Firmness at BoP Forum: 'I Don't Want to Fight Him'
“Someone I really like, of course a strong leader — I don’t want to fight him — the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo. Thank you.”
Jakarta (ANTARA) — US President Donald J. Trump praised the firmness of President Prabowo Subianto whilst opening the inaugural Board of Peace (BoP) Summit on Gaza in Washington DC on Thursday morning local time.
In his opening address at the first meeting of the Board of Peace, Trump described President Prabowo as a figure “respected by everybody,” going so far as to say he would not want to oppose him.
“Someone I really like, of course a strong leader — I don’t want to fight him — the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo. Thank you,” President Trump said as he called upon President Prabowo during the BoP Summit.
Trump also drew attention to the sheer size of Indonesia under Prabowo’s leadership. He admitted to having been surprised upon learning Indonesia’s population.
“President Prabowo, he’s a big figure. I asked him, ‘What’s Indonesia’s population?’ He said 240 million — no, no, say that again — 240 million people, your country, a big country. You’ve done a tremendous job, and you are respected by everyone. Thank you for being here, thank you Mr President,” Trump said to Prabowo.
According to Trump, Indonesia’s vast size reflects a weighty responsibility, and he assessed that Prabowo has been carrying out that role well.
President Prabowo, seated in the front row in the area reserved for heads of state, gestured his thanks to Trump for the praise bestowed upon him.
President Prabowo, attending in his trademark black peci, sat in the front row flanked by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan.
Prabowo had been seen conversing with the Kazakh President and the UAE Deputy Prime Minister before the BoP Summit commenced.
In his opening address, President Trump called upon a number of attending heads of state, sharing his personal impressions of each leader. Several leaders, including Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, received particularly lengthy praise from Trump during the event. Trump also used the occasion to highlight his own contributions to reconciling several nations in conflict, particularly when calling upon leaders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Pakistan.
After individually acknowledging each Board of Peace member state leader, President Trump went on to explain the body’s purpose: to create peace in Gaza, Palestine.
In the same address, Trump thanked a number of countries that had collectively pledged up to US$7 billion in aid packages for the Palestinian people in Gaza through the Board of Peace. The contributing nations were Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait.
Trump then noted that Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo, and Kazakhstan had committed to preparing troops to help restore the situation in Gaza.
On the same occasion, Trump also announced that the United States was committing US$10 billion to the Board of Peace.