President Prabowo Subianto’s concerted efforts to forge close ties with Donald Trump to elevate Indonesia’s global standing, enhance his stature as an international statesman, and safeguard Indonesia’s national interests have failed. His controversial decisions to join the Trump Board of Peace (BOP), sign a tariff deal that grants asymmetric benefits to the United States, and refrain from criticizing Trump’s war against Iran have not achieved his objectives. Instead, these steps risk diluting Indonesia’s traditionally principled foreign policy, could impose economic costs, and may affect Prabowo Subianto’s international image as well as his domestic political standing.

Prabowo’s insight that Trump was the key architect of U.S. foreign policy and needed to be engaged was correct. Prabowo failed, however, to appreciate the utter transactionalism and zero-sum nature of Trump’s worldview that would lead him to seek maximal gains for Washington with little regard for Indonesian interests. Prabowo’s decision to align with Trump at a time when his disruptive policies have triggered a concerted effort by middle powers to shape a new international order that reflects their interests is decidedly unfortunate. Indonesia has historically advocated the interests of the Global South and could play a role in this effort. Trump’s war against Iran has led Prabowo to backtrack on some his earlier commitments but whether he fully abandon’s his alignment with Washington to take advantage of this historical opportunity remains to be seen.