Trump: Tell Rodrigo I like him
American President (POTUS) Donald Trump said that he liked President Duterte “very much”.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Trump made the comment to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea when the latter accompanied Trump to the Air Force One.
“Thank you very much, I had a great time and tell Rodrigo I like him very much,” Trump reportedly told Medialdea as the US President boarded the aircraft.
Trump was in the Philippines for three days to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-East Asia Summit (ASEAN-EAS).
Medialdea was the one who welcomed Trump when he landed in Manila and the one to send him off when he left without attending the EAS Tues- day due to program delays and due to his scheduled flight.
Roque earlier said that the two leaders seemed to enjoy each other’s company and that their number one common denominator was the similar feelings toward former US President Barack Obama.
“There were indeed sour points due to the comments made by former US President Obama. President Trump addressed this by assuring that he is a friend of the Duterte administration since he won the US elections,” Roque had said.
The good relationship between the two leaders was evident during the ASEAN-US Summit where Trump reduced to calling Duterte by his first name on two occasions.
“Rodrigo, I would like to commend you on your success as ASEAN chair,” Trump said.
“Rodrigo, thank you so much for how you treated all of us,” said the US President as he closed his opening statement.
It was also learned that Trump indeed urged Duterte to sing “Ikaw” with Pilita Corrales when he heard Duterte humming to the tune during the ASEAN 50th Anniversary Special Gala Sunday night.
Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza shared on his Facebook account how Trump teased Duterte about his singing.
“The Filipino performers were great. But the greatest performer was him,” Trump reportedly said, referring to Duterte, during their bilateral meeting Monday.
Duterte responded by telling Trump to practice singing, too, so they could sing a duet in the future.
According to Dureza, Trump responded with, “Great idea. I’ll do that.”