Suddenly, US government bonds, the safest investments in the world, don't seem so appealing anymore with someone who's so far behaved like a lunatic now at the country's helm. To compensate for this, yields, or the return you get from buying these bonds, have become much higher. So, foreign investors are pulling their money out of high yield bonds such as those issued by Malaysia, and directing the funds into the US. It is this outflow of funds that is causing the ringgit to crash.
Najib Razak recently received some help when he sold distressed 1Mdb assets to the Chinese. The Malaysian PM recently also visited his counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing to seal further investments by the Chinese in Malaysia. But because China is now seen as one of the biggest losers from Trump's anti-trade ideals, Malaysia's close ties with the country isn't something investors are very optimistic about, so they could be dumping the ringgit for safer bets, like the Singapore dollar. During his campaigns, Trump had repeatedly vowed to bring factory jobs outsourced to the Chinese back to the US, which could roil the fragile progress China has been making in reforming its economy. Also, with the future of the TPP now on the rocks, the prospect of more expensive trade isn't helping the currency.
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