Jakarta. US President Donald Trump recently praised his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto’s UN debut speech, even commenting on the latter’s habit of pounding the podium.

Prabowo had just addressed the annual UN General Assembly’s high-level debate in New York for the first time since assuming power last October. The speech marked a historic milestone for Southeast Asia's biggest economy after his predecessor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo always sat out the closely monitored forum over the past decade.

Prabowo was the third world leader to get up on the podium that Tuesday morning local time, following right after Trump’s nearly hour-long fiery remarks. Not long after the national statements, Trump met with leaders of some Muslim-majority countries, including Indonesia, for a multilateral meeting on the Gaza war. At the talks’ opening session, Trump complimented Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani's speech before going to Prabowo.

“You too, my friend. Great speech, you did a great job, pounding at that table,” Trump told Prabowo. 

“I said, 'How would you like to deal with him when you left?. It's not easy.' You did a great job. Thank you very much," Trump said.

Earlier in his UN address, Trump mentioned having struck a historic trade deal with Indonesia. The businessman-turned-politician also defended his move to impose tariffs on countries around the world, saying that such measures were necessary to protect the US’s sovereignty after years of suffering trade imbalances. 

Unlike Trump, Prabowo kept his speech much shorter at just around 19 minutes. 

Prabowo’s address to the UN General Assembly combined calls to world peace and some boasts about national achievements. He also told the forum that Indonesia was willing to send over 20,000 peacekeepers to war-struck regions, including Gaza and Ukraine. Indonesia was the fifth-biggest provider of uniformed personnel for UN peacekeeping missions, contributing about 2,766 individuals as of end-July, data showed.

Indonesia is also now pretty open with its plans to officially form relations with Israel -- which has long had the US as its closest ally -- although under one condition. Israel must first recognize Palestinian independence and statehood.

“We must have an independent Palestine, but we must also, we must also recognize, we must also respect, and we must also guarantee the safety and security of Israel. Only then, we can have real peace, real peace, and no longer hate and no longer suspicion,” Prabowo stated in his UN speech as he repeatedly pounded the podium.

“The only solution is this, two-state solution. Two descendants of Abraham must live in reconciliation, peace, and harmony. Arabs, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, all religions, we must live as one human family. Indonesia is committed to being part of making this vision a reality, … this is the beautiful dream that we must work together towards.”

Jokowi, who was in power between 2014 and 2024, had never shown up to the UN General Assembly. He only made two virtual appearances during the pandemic-struck 2020 and 2021. 

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