Trump invites Philippines’ Duterte to Washington to develop ‘warm’ post-Obama relations

Sunday, April 30, 2017
By Paul Martin

RT.com
30 Apr, 2017

The US president has invited his Philippines counterpart to visit him at the White House to try and mend bilateral relations, which soured under the previous administration.

Donald Trump held a phone conversation with Philippines’ leader Rodrigo Duterte where they touched on regional security issues, including the ongoing Korean crisis, the White House said in a statement.

“President Trump enjoyed the conversation and said that he is looking forward to visiting the Philippines in November,” the readout said. “President Trump also invited President Duterte to the White House to discuss the importance of the United States-Philippines alliance.”

Duterte’s team meanwhile said that during the “ambit” conversation Trump expressed his commitment to the bilateral “alliance” as well as “interest in developing a warm, working relationship with President Duterte.”

According to Duterte’s spokesperson Ernesto Abella, President Trump “likewise mentioned that he looks forward to his visit to the Philippines in November for the East Asia Summit.”

Trump’s phone call came at the close of the 30th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Manila. While US-Philippines relations have been quite turbulent since Duterte assumed office last June, his attitude towards the new US leader differs drastically from the attitude towards the previous US President.

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