Anjani Sinha slammed in Senate hearing: ‘Shape up and do some homework’
Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Singapore, Dr. Anjani Sinha, faced sharp criticism during his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday after struggling to answer basic questions about the Southeast Asian country.
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth grilled Dr. Sinha, an Indian-born Florida-based surgeon and entrepreneur, on Singapore's economic ties, regional role, and U.S. military presence, News.Az reports, citing SCMP.
When he failed to provide accurate or coherent responses, Duckworth bluntly told him: “You are not currently prepared for this posting, period, and you need to shape up and do some homework.”
The exchange quickly went viral in Singapore, where online users mocked Sinha’s lack of preparedness. “This guy is more ‘Embarassador’ than Ambassador,” read one popular comment.
Sinha, who Trump described in March as a “highly respected entrepreneur” and “lifelong bridge builder,” had difficulty answering questions on Singapore’s trade surplus with the U.S., the country’s role as upcoming ASEAN chair, and Trump’s recent tariffs on Singaporean goods. When pressed about the trade surplus, he incorrectly said $80 billion before correcting himself twice; the actual figure is $2.8 billion.
Senator Duckworth, visibly frustrated, accused Sinha of treating the ambassadorship as a "glamour posting," rather than a serious diplomatic assignment to one of the U.S.’s most critical partners in the Indo-Pacific.
Despite the poor performance, Sinha’s confirmation remains likely, as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is Republican-controlled and may move the nomination forward to a full vote.
His nomination follows a controversial trend under Trump’s second term of appointing loyal allies to key diplomatic roles. Critics argue that competence and regional knowledge are being sidelined in favor of political connections.
As one Singaporean online commenter put it: “Not sure which is a worse insult, the tariffs or sending him as ambassador.”
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