Why Myanmar’s military ruler has welcomed Trump’s tariff warning letter

Yangon — Myanmar’s military leader lauded President Trump and asked him to lift sanctions, the ruling junta said Friday, after a tariff letter from the U.S. president that it has taken as Washington’s first public recognition of its rule. Min Aung Hlaing endorsed Mr. Trump’s false claim that the 2020 U.S. election was stolen, and thanked him for shutting down funding for U.S.-backed media outlets that have long provided independent coverage of conflict-wracked Myanmar.

The military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected civilian government in 2021, plunging the country, which is also known as Burma, into civil war. Suu Kyi has remained imprisoned since then.

The U.S. State Department sanctioned the junta chief and others for using “violence and terror to oppress” Burmese people and “denying them the ability to freely choose their own leaders.”

U.S. diplomats do not formally engage with the junta, but Mr. Trump sent a letter to Min Aung Hlaing by name on Monday telling him the U.S. would impose a 40% tariff from August 1, down from a threatened 44%. It was one of 20 similar letters sent to world leaders by Mr. Trump in recent days.

“It’s certainly the first public indication I’ve seen of U.S. acknowledgement of MAH and the junta,” said Richard Horsey of the International Crisis Group.

Any earlier private communications “would almost certainly not have been from Trump of course,” he told AFP.

Min Aung Hlaing seized the opportunity to respond with a multi-page letter released in both Burmese and English by the junta information team Friday.

In it, he expressed his “sincere appreciation” for Mr. Trump’s letter and praised the U.S. president’s “strong leadership in guiding your country toward national prosperity.”

He sought to justify the military’s seizure of power, saying: “Similar to the challenges you encountered during the 2020 election of the United States, Myanmar also experienced major electoral fraud and significant irregularities.”

Both Voice of America and Radio Free Asia — created by the United States with a mission to deliver news in countries without free media — have shut down their Burmese-language operations since the Trump administration cut their funding.

Min Aung Hlaing said he “sincerely appreciated” Mr. Trump’s move.

The junta is increasingly dependent on its allies China and Russia for economic and military support.

Min Aung Hlaing asked Mr. Trump to “reconsider easing and lifting the economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar,” and sought a tariff of 10-20%.

He thanked Mr. Trump for the “encouraging invitation to continue participating in the extraordinary Economy of the United States, the Number One Market in the World.”

Mr. Trump’s punitive tariff letters have left many nations scrambling to secure last-minute deals with Washington before they come into force next month.