Trump praises Duterte’s great job in his ‘drug war’: reports

WASHINGTON, May 24: US President Donald Trump praised his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte over his immensely polarizing drug war, which has killed thousands of people, reports said Tuesday.

During an April 29 call that focused mostly on North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile program, Trump congratulated Duterte on doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.”

Trump also extended an invitation for “good man” Duterte to visit the White House “anytime you want to come,” before the two leaders are set to meet in the Philippines in November.

“Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that,” Trump said, according to a transcript made by the Philippine government and released by The Washington Post and The Intercept.

Duterte responded by saying drugs are the “scourge of my nation now and I have to do something to preserve the Filipino nation.”

In related news, President Donald Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un a “madman with nuclear weapons” during a telephone call with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, according to a transcript of the conversation released by US media Tuesday.

A White House readout of the April 29 call characterized it as a “very friendly conversation.” Days after the conversation, Trump said publicly that he would be “honored” to meet with Kim.

But in the call, Trump hinted at a possible dramatic escalation on the Korean Peninsula.

“We can’t let a madman with nuclear weapons let on the loose like that. We have a lot of firepower, more than he has, times 20 -- but we don’t want to use it,” the US leader said, citing “two nuclear submarines” the Pentagon sent to the area last month.

Trump also queried Duterte about whether he believed Kim was “stable or not stable.” The Philippine leader responded that their North Korean counterpart’s “mind is not working and he might just go crazy one moment.”

Trump also told his Philippine counterpart that Washington has sent two nuclear submarines to waters off the Korean peninsula, the New York Times said, comments likely to raise questions about his handling of sensitive information.

Trump told Duterte Washington had “a lot of firepower over there”, according to the New York Times, which quoted a transcript of an April 29 call between the two.

“We have two submarines – the best in the world. We have two nuclear submarines, not that we want to use them at all,” the newspaper quoted Trump as telling Duterte, based on the transcript.