U.S. Quietly Opens Direct Talks With Myanmar's Military-Backed Government, Ending Years of Isolation

Since the 2021 coup in Myanmar, Washington's approach to the country's generals has been sanctions and distance. That has changed. The Trump administration is now talking directly with the military-installed government in Naypyitaw, according to a Reuters investigation based on seven current and former officials and others familiar with the shift.

How it started

The key figure is Michael Vance, the State Department's assistant secretary for intelligence and research, who was confirmed in August. Reuters reports that he took part in talks with Min Aung Hlaing, the former army chief who is now president, in Naypyitaw on Sept. 15 and 16. That was the highest-level U.S. contact since the coup. The immediate goal was freeing Adam Castillo, an American businessman and former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar who had been held since he was detained at Yangon airport on June 11. One person told Reuters that Myanmar asked only for "an official engagement at the right level with the US government" in return. Castillo has since been released and credited President Trump.

The September meeting followed an earlier one in Tokyo in June that also involved Vance, according to Reuters. It is unusual for an intelligence chief to steer policy, and outside experts quoted by Reuters raised concerns about what that means for the independence of intelligence analysis.

Scams and rare earths

The main U.S. focus is getting Myanmar's help shutting down scam compounds on its soil. These compounds run romance and other online frauds that have cost Americans billions of dollars, and the FBI has been in direct contact with Myanmar authorities about them, Reuters reported. Researchers note that many of the operations sit in militia-controlled areas and that some of the money reaches the military. That raises doubts about how seriously the government will crack down.

Officials also discussed access to Myanmar's large deposits of heavy rare earths, which are used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. Those deposits lie mostly in territory held by ethnic armed groups fighting the military, and China, the main buyer today, may see any U.S. role as a challenge.

The pushback

Min Aung Hlaing remains under U.S. sanctions over abuses against the Rohingya, which Washington has declared a genocide. Less than two weeks after Vance's visit, U.N. human rights officials said a military airstrike on a market in Rakhine state killed more than 50 people. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott defended the outreach, saying, "You don't solve problems by ignoring them." Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the shift "contrary to both our values and our interests."

Reuters also noted that Myanmar's government has hired lobbyists in Washington, including longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone through DCI Group, according to foreign-agent filings.