Trump’s ‘late arrival’ won’t affect Asean Summit sked–DFA
A meeting between US President Donald Trump and leaders of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Nov. 17 in Manila will cap the 49th summit of the regional bloc chaired over the past year by the Philippines, an official said on Friday.
Assistant Secretary Dominic Xavier Imperial of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Asean-US Special Summit would be the concluding activity of the Nov. 15-Nov. 17 annual Asean Summit and Related Summits. The Philippines will then formally handover the bloc’s rotating chairmanship to Singapore.
Leaders-only format
Trump, who will be making his second appearance at the Asean Summit in his second term, is expected to arrive late in the afternoon on Tuesday but “nothing will be pushed back” in the schedule, Imperial said.
“We will proceed as planned with regard to the preparations, especially on the closing ceremony,” he said during a briefing.
Imperial said the final day’s activities would culminate in the Asean-US summit “despite the late arrival” of the US president.
He explained that the Asean-US meeting was designated as a special summit because of its leaders-only format, which allows the regional leaders and Trump to discuss the agenda directly and identify measures that needed to be addressed.
“The intent of Asean and US is to have a more candid discussion during this summit,” Imperial said.
The meeting is expected to review Asean-US relations, including cooperation in trade, investment, education and technology.
Marcos meetings
Asean is comprised of 11 member states—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor-Leste, which was admitted in October 2025.
Imperial said the decisions reached by the leaders would be stated in an outcome document to be released after the summit.
He said Trump was also expected to have his own bilateral “engagements” on Nov. 18, but he didn’t have details.
President Marcos is scheduled to hold talks with Trump and with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres.
He is also expected to have separate meetings with leaders from Japan, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, India and Laos on the sidelines of the summit.
Side meetings of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, Asean Business Advisory Council and Asean youth groups are scheduled in the afternoon and evening of the first day, Nov. 15.
On the following day, Asean leaders will hold separate meetings with China, the United Nations, Australia and South Korea. A gala dinner will be hosted by the President and first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
Mr. Marcos will preside over the Asean Plus Three Summit, which involves China, South Korea and Japan at the opening of the final day of this year’s gathering.
This will be followed by the Asia Zero-Emission Community Leaders’ Meeting, the Asean-Japan Summit, Mekong-Japan Summit, the Asean-India Summit and the East Asia Summit.
These meetings are expected to address tensions in the South China Sea, the political crisis in Myanmar, energy security, food security and transnational crime, among other regional concerns.
Threat of online scams
In a draft of a joint statement to be released at the end of the summit, the Asean leaders and their key counterparts, including the United States and China, will renew their alarm over the rising threat of online scams, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Friday.
The leaders of the East Asia Summit, which includes Asean’s dialogue partners, will express their “grave concern over the escalating threat posed by transnational criminal organizations inflicting harm through online scams, including those originating from scam center operations and associated criminal conduct such as human trafficking,” according to the draft joint statement.
In July, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported how Southeast Asia-based criminal groups have increasingly used integrated networks and technology to expand to other regions. The scams caused estimated combined losses of $88.3 billion to $114.1 billion in 2025, according to a report by regional authorities. —WITH A REPORT FROM AP
