Christopher Luxon and Donald Trump. Photo: Supplied / PMO
Analysis:The headlines from Christopher Luxon's Southeast Asian spree have largely focused on his brief exchange with US President Donald Trump, but the bigger prize may lie in the quieter relationships forged on the sidelines.
The prime minister's mission in Kuala Lumpur and Busan - at the East Asia Summit and APEC - was to "anchor" New Zealand's future "security and prosperity" more firmly in the Indo-Pacific.
The global backdrop? Escalating trade tensions and an increasingly unpredictable White House.
Trump's "America First" protectionism has shaken the rules-based system that smaller nations like New Zealand rely on.
And so the question of whether Luxon would land a meeting with the US President hung over the trip from its outset.
"If it happens, it happens," was Luxon's initial public position, as though it wasn't front of mind, or he could just as easily do without. Later, he told reporters his government had "made it known" he was keen to meet with Trump.
Such encounters have proven to be unpredictable. Just ask Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky or South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa.
But New Zealand cannot ignore opportunities to build relationships with one of the most powerful people in the world. It still counts the US as a "likeminded" nation - even when the minds are perhaps less alike than usual.
Christopher Luxon and Todd McClay at a bilateral meeting in South Korea. Photo: Pool / Henry Cooke
Luxon's eventual exchange, then, will be chalked up as a success in the Beehive and diplomatic circles.
Not only did Trump make clear he knew where New Zealand was, he declared: "I like your man from New Zealand."
Luxon was positively beaming.
The pair met privately before a longer APEC leaders' dinner hosted by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
They talked golf, not tariffs, in what Luxon described as a rapport-building exercise. It was not, he said, the right time to raise their differences over trade.
It's hard to measure the value of that personal connection - currently, the 15 percent tariffs on New Zealand remain.
Perhaps it will help later when it is the right time to raise the issue of tariffs. Or it may not. With Trump, there are few guarantees.
The same could be said of Trump's far-more-substantial meeting with China's Xi Jinping. On the face of it, a breakthrough - but for how long?
President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo: Supplied / PMO
The "Liberation Day" tariffs rattled global markets and sent New Zealand's GDP tumbling. With Washington and Beijing trading blows, Luxon's coalition blamed those tariffs for the downturn.
It's why Luxon has used this trip to double down on deepening ties with fast-growing economies like Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea - less glamorous, but more reliable.
All week he insisted it was his job to "get disproportionate influence for New Zealand through these relationships".
He also pushed forward with smaller groupings, such as a new agreement with Chile and Singapore to begin talks on a Green Economy Partnership.
Luxon explained this was how to grow trading relationships - start with a few countries, and build from there - citing the beginnings of the CPTPP.
New Zealand's foreign policy rests on an old truth: it survives by accumulating friends.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (R) welcomes New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (C) and US President Donald Trump for a special dinner. Photo: AFP
Former prime minster Jacinda Ardern used her international "stardust" for that purpose, while Luxon - the manager - adopts a more corporate conviviality, most happy while courting deals, and notching up "good friends" as he refers to his Australian, Canadian and Singaporean counterparts.
He's clearly in his element abroad, and eager to claim wins where he can - especially given their scarcity at home.
Luxon celebrated this week's upgrades with both ASEAN and South Korea as significant steps, unlocking the potential for more investment and more collaboration.
Luxon at East Asia Summit. Photo: Supplied / PMO
That work, of course, has been years in the making and driven by many hands - one doesn't just walk into Malaysia and secure a trade deal. This was a point briefly, and pointedly, made by Foreign Minister Winston Peters in a now-deleted social media post.
"We…"
Peters prefers collective credit - and Luxon later acknowledged the team effort when asked about it. Notably, Luxon's social media posts since have been less personalised.
The prime minister's consistent message throughout the trip was that he wants to make New Zealand "as resilient as possible in a world where it's increasingly choppier".
That means spreading bets and deepening ties.
Trump may offer a short-term sugar hit - some golfing chit-chat and hairstyle banter.
But the world is changing, and the actual value of that sugar hit is yet to declare itself.
The real sustenance lies in the slow, steady relationship building with the likes of Malaysia and South Korea, not in a single photo opportunity.
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