Outgoing United States Ambassador to Singapore Kirk Wagar said yesterday the extraordinary focus on America's President-elect Donald Trump and how his incoming administration would treat Asia ignores one critical fact: the US is more than just one man.

Mr Wagar does not see America under the Trump administration placing less importance on Asia because the region is part of his country's core national interests.

"I am not worried about any administration receding from the rebalance or the importance of Asia," he said at a farewell dialogue with members of the Singapore Press Club that was moderated by Singapore Press Holdings' deputy chief executive, Mr Patrick Daniel.

Pointing to Asia's large middle-class population of 525 million that is projected to reach 3.2 billion by 2030, he sees Asia as the place where American firms are going to be as they partner Asian ones in "curing cancer together, going to Mars together, figuring out apps together".

Mr Wagar, who was the finance chair for President Barack Obama's election campaigns in Florida in 2008 and 2012, also pointed to America's longstanding relationship with Singapore and the region.

The ties are more than just between governments, they include businesses as well. There are 3,700 American companies in Singapore, a number he expects to rise.

He noted that, unlike most nations where the central governments drive the development and focus of their countries, "America has survived in spite of Washington, not because of it". He added: "Our country is not monolithic and we do not have a dictatorship."

Neither does he see America turning isolationist. "Do I think Mr Trump's administration will continue to play the role we played militarily, diplomatically, culturally?

"Yes," he said.

Referring to Mr Trump's habit of posting on Twitter, he said: "While foreign relations might be a little bumpier and Twitter a bit more exciting, the country is bigger than one person." He believes the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not dead in the water and that President-elect Trump could be brought around to support the 12-nation trade pact.

But not in its current form, he added. "If the new administration feels they need to tweak a few things, that's possible. But at the end of the day, it's a good agreement."

Mr Wagar, who became the ambassador in 2013, joked that one thing about Singapore that frustrates him is that "every benefit of the doubt that you can give to China, you do, and every negative inference you can give to us, you do".

He added: "I just ask that people look at our engagement, regardless of the person giving the speeches, and think about our country as 330 million people who are complex and engaged."