Still, this does not mean he cannot be a net positive to the US-Singapore relationship. If confirmed, which is likely, Dr Sinha would be supported by world-class US Embassy career foreign service and commercial officers. And, if he has the type of relationship with the US president where he can advance bilateral interests directly, which appears to be the case, that counts most. “Dr Sinha plays golf with Trump and is Don Jr’s orthopaedic surgeon… certainly better than the normal State Department types who are despised by the MAGA group,” Bilahari Kausikan, former Permanent Secretary at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told me. RUBIO’S FIRST ASIA VISIT AMID TARIFFS Just as Mr Trump’s tariffs loomed large over Dr Sinha’s hearing, so will they over Mr Rubio’s first official trip to the region. The revised levies announced this week – now scheduled to start from Aug 1 – continue to hang precipitously over Southeast Asia. Every country in Southeast Asia besides Singapore has tariffs well above Mr Trump’s declared baseline of 10 per cent. Even striking a “deal” – as did Vietnam and possibly Cambodia – lessens but does not take away the pain, especially as there may be more tariffs to come for key sectors such as electronics. Mr Trump makes his message clear: Strategic alignment doesn’t guarantee economic relief. Even treaty allies and close partners aren’t exempt, with curbing China now the central concern of US trade policy.