Trump puts trade deals above human rights in meeting with Duterte

Donald Trump raved about accomplishments. highlight human rights abuses while overseas.

Mr Duterte has overseen a bloody drug war that has featured extrajudicial killings and has boasted about killing people with his own hands.

However, Mr Trump said he and Mr Duterte have “had a great relationship” but avoided questions on whether he would raise human rights issues. The White House later said the two leaders had discussed Islamic State, illegal drugs and trade during the 40-minute meeting.

A spokeswoman said human rights came up “briefly” in the context of the Philippines’ fight against illegal drugs.

That appeared to conflict with the Philippines’ version of the meeting. A spokesman for Mr Duterte said: “There was no mention of human rights. There was no mention of extra-legal killings. There was only a rather lengthy discussion of the Philippine war on drugs, with President Duterte doing most of the explaining.”

On the sidelines of an international summit, Mr Trump looked to strengthen ties with Pacific Rim allies, aiming to strike bilateral rather than multinational trade agreements and increase pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme. He met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday and touted their two nations’ “deeper and more comprehensive” ties, looking to strengthen a relationship that is vital to the US vision of an Indo-Pacific region that tries to reduce China’s influence.

Mr Trump raved about his accomplishments on his five-nation journey, including on trade and on North Korea. He said he would wait until his return to Washington tomorrow to elaborate, with a “major statement” on those two topics but hinted at progress while in Manila.

“We’ve made some very big steps with regard to trade – far bigger than anything you know,” Mr Trump said.

“We have deficits with almost everybody. Those deficits are going to be cut very quickly and very substantially.”