The Trump administration has opened US Myanmar talks directly with the country’s military-installed government, Reuters reported on Oct. 8, 2026, citing seven current and former officials and others familiar with the outreach. The shift reverses Washington’s effort, since the February 2021 coup, to isolate the generals who seized power in the Southeast Asian nation.
The highest-level contact since the coup took place in the capital, Naypyidaw, on Sept. 15 and 16, when a senior State Department official met Min Aung Hlaing, the former military chief who was installed as civilian president in April, according to the Reuters report published by CNA.
Who is leading the US Myanmar talks
Michael Vance, the assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, played a leading role in the outreach, according to the report. Vance was confirmed as the State Department’s top intelligence official in August and previously advised Vice President JD Vance on Asian affairs. His role in Myanmar policy had not been previously reported.
The September meeting was aimed at securing the release of Adam Castillo, an American businessman and former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, who was detained at Yangon airport on June 11. People familiar with the matter told Reuters that Myanmar asked only for official engagement “at the right level” with the U.S. government in return. Castillo has since been released and credited President Donald Trump, but declined to comment further.
The talks built on a June meeting between U.S. and Myanmar officials in Tokyo that also involved Vance, along with officials from the Treasury Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon, one person said. Vance has also met the democratic opposition and ethnic armed groups fighting the military, five people told Reuters.
Scam centers and rare earths on the agenda
A main focus of the U.S. push is getting Myanmar’s help to shut down scam hubs on its territory that run romance and other frauds targeting Americans. Two people said the FBI has had direct contact with Myanmar authorities on cyber scams. Researchers say many of the operations are run from areas under militia control, with some proceeds reaching the military, which has raised doubts about enforcement.
U.S. officials also discussed access to Myanmar’s large deposits of heavy rare earths, which are used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. Officials acknowledged obstacles: most deposits lie in territory held by ethnic armies fighting the military government, and China, currently the main buyer, could view a U.S. role as a challenge. Washington is seeking to diversify critical mineral supply chains away from Beijing, which has also expanded its regional maritime presence, as seen in the Philippines Batanes standoff with a China vessel.
Sanctions, the Rohingya and Rakhine
Min Aung Hlaing remains under U.S. sanctions for human rights abuses, including the 2016-2017 killings and expulsions of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims, which Washington has declared a genocide. Less than two weeks after Vance’s visit, a military airstrike on a crowded market in Rakhine state killed more than 50 people, according to United Nations human rights officials cited in the report.
After the coup, the Biden administration froze Myanmar’s assets at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and sanctioned senior officers and military-linked businesses. In 2022, Congress authorized non-lethal support for the opposition. Most of those programs were cut during last year’s foreign aid overhaul, according to four current and former officials and State Department correspondence reviewed by Reuters.
The State Department said it engages with all groups in Myanmar on issues affecting U.S. interests and presses for an end to violence and the release of political prisoners. “You don’t solve problems by ignoring them. You solve problems by addressing them,” spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. A spokesperson for the military-backed government did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Reaction in Congress and the regional picture
Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the shift was “contrary to both our values and our interests” and argued that engaging Min Aung Hlaing gives his government greater international legitimacy. Myanmar’s government has hired lobbyists in Washington; Foreign Agents Registration Act filings show longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone began consulting in April for DCI Group on behalf of Myanmar’s Ministry of Information.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has excluded Myanmar from high-level meetings since 2021 over a lack of progress on its Five-Point Consensus to end the violence. Min Aung Hlaing was on a two-day visit to Malaysia this week as he seeks wider recognition. Malaysia has also begun returning Myanmar nationals, a process covered in our report on Malaysia Myanmar repatriation and UN warnings.