Trump’s friendly chat with Duterte dismays critics
When President Trump called President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines on Saturday, White House officials saw it as part of a routine diplomatic outreach to Southeast Asian leaders. Trump, characteristically, had his own ideas.
During their “very friendly conversation,” the administration said in a late-night statement, Trump invited Duterte, an authoritarian leader accused of ordering extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the Philippines, to visit him at the White House.
Now, administration officials are bracing for an avalanche of criticism from human rights groups. Two officials said they expected the State Department and the National Security Council, both of which were caught off guard by the invitation, to raise objections internally.
The White House disclosed the news on a day when Trump whipped up ardent backers at a campaign-style rally in Harrisburg, Pa. The timing of the announcement — after a speech that was an angry, grievance-filled jeremiad — encapsulated this president after 100 days in office: still ready to say and do things that leave people, even on his staff, slack-jawed.
“By essentially endorsing Duterte’s murderous war on drugs, Trump is now morally complicit in future killings,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch. “Although the traits of his personality likely make it impossible, Trump should be ashamed of himself.”
Administration officials said the call to Duterte was one of several to Southeast Asian leaders that the White House arranged after picking up signs that they felt neglected because of Trump’s intense focus on China, Japan and tensions over North Korea. On Sunday, Trump spoke to the prime ministers of Singapore and Thailand.
Duterte’s toxic reputation had given pause to some in the White House. The Philippines is to host a summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in November, and officials said there was a brief debate about whether Trump should attend.
It is not even clear, given the accusations of human rights abuses against him, that Duterte, were he not a head of state, would be granted a visa to the United States, according to human rights advocates.
Still, Trump’s affinity for Duterte and other strongmen is well established. Administration officials said Trump wanted to mend the alliance with the Philippines as a bulwark against China’s expansionism in the South China Sea. The Philippines has clashed with China over disputed reefs and shoals in the waterway, which they share.