Trump invites controversial leader of Philippines to visit White House
MANILA, Philippines — U.S. President Donald Trump has called Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte and expressed Washington’s interest in developing “a warm, working relationship,” a Filipino official said Sunday.
Presidential spokesman Ernie Abella said Trump mentioned he was looking forward to visiting the Philippines in November to attend an East Asia summit and that Trump invited Duterte to visit the White House.
“The discussion that transpired between the presidents was warm, with President Trump expressing his understanding and appreciation of the challenges facing the Philippine president, especially on the matter of dangerous drugs,” Abella said.
Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said the friendlier ties are needed even with concerns about Duterte’s human rights record, which includes extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers and users as part of the government’s drug war.
“The purpose of this call is all about North Korea,” Priebus said. “It doesn’t mean that human rights don’t matter.”
Duterte had formerly asked President Barack Obama to “go to hell” for criticizing his bloody anti-drug crackdown. During Obama’s final months in office, the Philippine president moved to build closer economic ties with China and Russia while repeatedly threatening to end his nation’s long-standing military alliance with the U.S.