WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s ambassador-nominee to Singapore,

, struggled to defend America’s tariff policies during an unexpectedly tough Senate confirmation hearing.

The two-hour-long hearing on July 9, which featured four other hopeful nominees, kicked off cordially with an opening statement by Dr Sinha but turned into a testy back-and-forth with Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth when it came to question time.

“This is not a role you can just pick up on a whim, or because you think it will be glamorous, or because Singapore is a great place to live,” Ms Duckworth said, even before she began firing off a volley of questions.

“Frankly, I don’t think you are particularly qualified for this role, and I’m concerned about how your lack of understanding may even inadvertently cause friction in our critical relationship.

“Will you even be able to effectively lead our mission in Singapore? I have my doubts,” said the senator, a combat veteran who had also raised tough questions during the confirmation hearing of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in January.

She challenged Dr Sinha on how large the US trade surplus with Singapore was in 2024. When he faltered, mentioning US$18 billion (S$23 billion), she pointed out that it was US$2.8 billion, before telling him that he was “off by a huge factor”.

“If confirmed, how would you explain our friendship in Singapore to the President?” she asked.

“How would you explain to our friends in Singapore the President’s threats to slap tariffs as high as 25 per cent on their country, given that the United States has a nearly US$3 billion trade surplus with Singapore?”

On April 2, Mr Trump unilaterally announced a baseline tariff of 10 per cent on imports from Singapore, despite the fact that the two nations have had a free trade agreement since 2004. On some sectoral imports, such as on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals which are still in the works, the tariffs are pegged much higher.

“We are not walking away from any dialogue between the two countries and two leaders,” Dr Sinha replied.

“If confirmed, I will make a personal (relationship) with the government of Singapore, and I will make sure the dialogue continues and we settle the issues of trade together,” he added.

But Ms Duckworth was not satisfied. “Do you support increasing tariffs on Singapore, seeing how… they buy more of our stuff than we buy up theirs,” she pressed on.

“I believe in President’s decision of a free trade… and he’s resetting the trade numbers with each country and he’s open for discussion and dialogue with these countries,” Dr Sinha replied.

Ms Duckworth also quizzed him on when Singapore would take up the Asean chairmanship, and when Dr Sinha could not name the year, she supplied the answer: 2027.

Probing further, she asked him to name one issue that might be critical to Singapore as Asean chair and how he would support Singapore in his role as US ambassador.

She described his replies of defence, economics and trade as too “broad” before turning to questions related to defence.

“How do you envision strengthening the US Navy’s work with Singapore?” she asked. “Are there any facilities that come to mind that are central to our relationship with Singapore?”

Again dismissing his broad references to joint military exercises and training, she said: “Can you name a specific thing, please? I’m trying to help you here, but you’ve not even done your homework, sir.”

“You want to be ambassador to Singapore, one of the most important... friends we have in the Indo-Pacific, a key place that we’re going to be fighting against our greatest adversary in the region, the PRC.

She added: “Singapore may feature incredible culture, but that should not be treated as a glamour posting. This nation is too important to the United States, to Asean, to the entire region.”

“This is not a partisan issue,” she said.

“I just feel that you are not taking this seriously. You think… you’re going to live a nice life in Singapore, but what we need is someone who’s going to actually do the work.”

Until Ms Duckworth’s questioning, Dr Sinha had faced a friendly audience at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In his four-minute opening remarks, Dr Sinha, who is in his 70s, called Singapore a “key strategic partner and a friend in the Indo-Pacific.”

“There are so many potential areas for growth in this vital relationship, which has already seen significant advancement in defence and security cooperation and made great strides in collaborating on cutting edge technologies,” he said.

“I look to expand and deepen our defence and security cooperation, economic and trade relationship and people-to-people ties. I see tremendous opportunities for the United States with Singapore,” he said.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who introduced Dr Sinha, said he had known him for many years and that he had been a friend of President Trump for over a decade.

Calling him a “very industrious, talented surgeon and businessman”, he described him as well positioned to relate to key stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Singapore has a very vibrant medical community, a lot of medical tourism, biotech, medical innovation. All of this is right up his alley,” said Mr Graham, a veteran senator and a close ally of Mr Trump.

“I think he’ll be a great spokesperson for our country and Singapore. He knows the region, and he knows the issues,” he added.

In asking Dr Sinha about his priorities for the bilateral relationship, Senator Pete Ricketts, a Republican from Nebraska, mentioned his own recent visit to Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue, during which he met Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

Make sure to strike a personal chord, Senator Ricketts suggested. “I think you should make a good connection with the foreign minister there, he’s also a physician,” he said.

Dr Sinha agreed, noting things he had in common with Dr Balakrishnan.

“He went to school and became an eye surgeon. I went to school and became an orthopaedic surgeon.

“His wife is a physician who became a neurologist. My wife is an anaesthesiologist, and his kids are lawyers. Our kids are lawyers and doctors. So we have a strong connection already,” Dr Sinha said.

The Straits Times understands that Mrs Joy Balakrishnan is not a doctor.

According to the Milk (Mainly I Love Kids) Fund website, Mrs Balakrishnan in 2004 co-founded the children’s charity. She is described as an educator who devotes herself to full-time community service.

The India-born Dr Sinha, who immigrated to the US in 1977, specialises in sports medicine.

He has been married to Dr Kiki Sinha, a retired anesthesiologist and New York University faculty, for 48 years. They have two children and three grandchildren.

His wife and son Sumeet were present at the confirmation hearing while his daughter Pooja was watching the proceedings live from Norway where she lives.

Others on the same hearing as Dr Sinha included Ms Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host who has been nominated to be US envoy to Greece, and three others nominated for various United Nations posts.

Mr Trump

on March 11 in a post on Truth Social, referring to him as Dr Anji Sinha and calling him a “highly respected entrepreneur, with an incredible family”. He revealed little else.

After the hearing, the committee votes on whether to report the nomination favourably, unfavourably, or without recommendation to the full Senate. Sometimes, senators may send the nominee additional written questions after the hearing.

There is no set period between the committee hearing and the Senate confirmation vote, but political disagreements or backlogs can cause a delay of several months.

The nomination requires a simple majority to be confirmed in the 100-member Senate, where the Republicans have 53 senators.

Upon confirmation, the nominee is officially appointed and may then present credentials to the host country.