February 18, 2026 | 11:12 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has a good relationship with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, claimed State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi, ahead of the two leaders' reunion later this week.
Prabowo is currently visiting the U.S. He's scheduled to attend the first Board of Peace summit and sign a trade tariff deal with Trump during his trip.
Prasetyo hopes the ties with Trump will facilitate Prabowo's agenda in Washington, especially in regard to the reciprocal tariff agreement. The import tariffs on Indonesian goods will likely be set at around 19 percent, according to the minister.
But the rapport between Prabowo and Trump may lower the tariff, said Prasetyo. "Perhaps in the process of communicating, it is possible, due to the two leaders' good relationship, there may be a change in policy," said Prasetyo in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Prasetyo hopes that Prabowo's friendship with Trump could benefit Indonesia as a nation. "We all hope that maybe in the meeting between Bapak President Prabowo and President Trump there will be changes that are beneficial for our nation," he said.
Prabowo and Trump are scheduled to sign the trade deal tomorrow, February 19, 2026. On the same day, the Board of Peace will also hold its first summit in Washington D.C.
Prabowo and the presidential entourage landed at Joint Base Andrews, Washington D.C. on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 at 11:55 a.m. local time or 11:55 p.m. Jakarta time.
Upon the landing of Prabowo's Garuda Indonesia-1, the president was welcomed by several local officials. Among them were the Indonesian Ambassador to the United States Dwisuryo Indroyono Soesilo, Indonesian Defense Attaché in Washington Air Commodore E. Wisoko Aribowo, and Maintenance Group Commander Colonel Gary Charland.
After the welcome at the airbase, Prabowo headed straight to the hotel where he would stay during his time in Washington D.C. During this visit, Prabowo is accompanied by Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia.
Dian Rahma Fika contributed to the writing of this article.
Read: Prabowo to Meet American Business Leaders in Washington
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