KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad complained that he inherited a government filled with corrupt and untrustworthy top officials.

US news network CNN reported today that the 93-year-old leader never expected the “damage to be so extensive”, although he did take note of the rampant corruption that allegedly occurred during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s tenure as PM.

“From the outside, we saw the damage, but we never expected the damage to be so extensive. Most of the top echelons in the government are corrupt,” Dr Mahathir told CNN.

He added that trust issues with his subordinates have made his job unnecessarily difficult.

“I have to work with some of those people who are suspect. It’s a very difficult job. If you don’t work with people you trust, you don’t know whether what you want them to do will be done or not,” he reportedly said.

Touching on foreign policy, Dr Mahathir reportedly said that Malaysia cannot go to war with Beijing despite China’s increasingly assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, where the superpower is claiming almost all of its territory, including islands in Malaysian waters.

“We have always been friendly with China. There’s a saying, ‘the powerful will take what they will, the weak will yield what they must’.”

“They are more powerful, and we cannot fight against them, (so) how do we benefit from their wealth and their power? That’s what we are looking at now,” Dr Mahathir reportedly said.

“We have to accept the reality of the situation.”

Dr Mahathir accused China of spreading its influence through debt under its One Belt, One Road Initiative, but welcomed China-backed mega projects as long as the government and businesses remain independent of Chinese loans.

The world’s oldest prime minister also lambasted US president Donald Trump over his recent economic policies, particularly the ongoing trade war with China, which he said will hurt all parties.

“A trade war does not do anything good for the world. He asked for things which are quite, quite unacceptable. For example, he wants to build a wall to separate Mexico from the US, and he is asking the Mexicans to pay.

“It’s your project, you pay! But is it because he thinks he’s powerful so he can ask people to pay for what he wants to do? So how do you deal with that kind of mindset? The US will lose, China will lose, the whole world will lose. War and trade wars (don’t) solve any problems,” he reportedly said.

Regarding the rising threat of terrorism throughout the region, Dr Mahathir blamed extremist religious leaders for inciting violence, adding that to gain absolute victory in the war against terror, the causes of terrorism itself must be addressed.

“It is a threat to our country but you know, we tried to counter terrorism with very sophisticated ways and all that using new technology to fight terrorism, but terrorism has a reason, it has a cause.

“You have to (tackle the) cause of terrorism. If you can tackle the cause and remove it, then there won’t be terrorism,” he reportedly said.