September 12, 2017 - 9:59 AM
WASHINGTON - The Latest on President Donald Trump's meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (all times local):
12:40 p.m.
President Donald Trump is thanking Malaysia's prime minister for investments the country has made in the United States.
Trump is also thanking Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak for the country's role in the fight against Islamic State militants and pointing to billions of dollars' worth of aircraft the country is ordering from Boeing. Trump made no mention of the massive corruption scandal involving a state fund that Najib founded — a fund that has been at the centre of investigations in the U.S. and several countries amid allegations of a global embezzlement and money-laundering scheme. U.S. officials say people close to Najib stole billions of dollars from the fund.
Trump and Najib met at the White House. Najib says he wants to help Trump strengthen the U.S. economy. He says Trump is on a mission to make the world safe and says: "We will do our part to make sure our part of the world is safe."
____
11:51 a.m.
President Donald Trump is greeting Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak at the White House.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the two leaders will discuss maritime security and counter-terrorism among other topics.
Najib's visit to the White House comes under the cloud of a massive corruption scandal involving the 1MDB state fund that he founded. Malaysia's government has said it found no criminal wrongdoing at 1MDB. But the fund has been at the centre of investigations in the U.S. and several countries amid allegations of a global embezzlement and money-laundering scheme.
The U.S. Justice Department says people close to Najib stole billions of dollars, and the federal government is working to seize $1.7 billion it says was taken from the fund to buy assets in the U.S.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017