President Donald Trump will install peace architecture between Thailand and Cambodia in Malaysia, marking what he describes as a major diplomatic accomplishment. The US president announced his participation while traveling aboard Air Force One to the 47th ASEAN summit.
The peace architecture addresses a border conflict that exploded into violence in July 2025, when Thai and Cambodian military forces engaged in five days of intense fighting along their disputed frontier. The violent confrontation resulted in casualties and forced thousands of civilians to evacuate their homes on both sides of the border, creating a humanitarian emergency that required urgent international intervention.
Through Malaysian diplomatic efforts, a ceasefire was successfully negotiated and implemented in late July 2025, bringing an immediate halt to the fighting. Malaysia has continued its peacekeeping efforts by coordinating ASEAN observer missions that monitor the truce and ensure both Thailand and Cambodia comply with the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
While aboard Air Force One, President Trump announced via Truth Social that the peace architecture installation would occur immediately upon his arrival in Malaysia. The expedited schedule is intended to accommodate the numerous world leaders attending this major diplomatic event, including Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and other ASEAN leaders. Trump also expressed condolences for the recent death of Thailand’s Queen Mother and confirmed he would meet with Thailand’s Prime Minister upon landing.
The installed peace architecture represents the culmination of months of diplomatic work, including recent progress made during a two-day special meeting of the Cambodia-Thai Joint Commission on Demarcation for the Land Boundary held in Chanthaburi, Thailand, in late October. Both nations reached several key agreements aimed at expediting the land demarcation process along their more than 800-kilometer shared border. Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow has indicated that both countries are nearing completion of a Declaration of Thailand-Cambodia Relations designed to permanently resolve border issues. The territorial dispute has historically focused on ancient Hindu temple sites in the Dangrek Mountains, with previous serious violence in 2011 near Preah Vihear temple resulted in at least 16 deaths.