ASEAN’s internal divisions have encouraged the proliferation of various mini-lateral partnerships seeking to uphold the regional maritime order over the last decade. As an alternative to ASEAN centered multilateralism, these new smaller groupings provide a more flexible and direct route to security cooperation among states sharing common threat perceptions. Most of these mini-groupings depend, either directly or indirectly, on the current Trump administration continuing to uphold what remains of East Asia’s rules based order. But President Trump’s America First policies are threatening to stall the region’s mini-lateral turn as partner states reassess the costs and benefits of participating in US security partnerships.