Is Donald Trump Prepared to Conduct Business With Myanmar?

Does this mean the end of the long-standing policy of isolating the Myanmar military regime?

Evidence of that includes the disclosure that a senior Trump administration official met with its leader, Min Aung Hlaing, last month and the removal of a few corporate leaders from the US sanctions list.

The military removed democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 coup. Until today, the US had had virtually no official engagement with the regime. More recently, it had launched a series of targeted penalties on those seen as aiding the junta.

The meeting was with US Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Michael Vance and was held in Myanmar’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw, on 15 and 16 September. At first glance, it was to get the release of Adam Castillo, a US citizen imprisoned in June over a quarrel with the local American Chamber of Commerce.

Vance was the highest-ranking US official to see Min Aung Hlaing since the coup, and they discussed other shared concerns.

Vance has also reportedly met with Burmese officials in Tokyo in June and again this month, as well as representatives of groups opposed to military authority.

But the first signs of a shift in US policy toward Myanmar date back to July last year, when President Donald Trump was embroiled in a trade fight.

This came as Min Aung Hlaing and other regional leaders received a personal letter from the US president, telling them the country’s smashed economy would be hit with 40% tariffs.

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