Duterte invites Trump to PH in 2017

Two of the world’s most recently-elected and highly outspoken leaders may meet sooner than we anticipated, as President Rodrigo Duterte congratulated US President-elect Donald Trump over the phone last Friday, December 2.

ANIMATED. President Duterte having an animated conversation over the phone with US President-elect Trump.

After the conversation, Duterte said that the US President-elect “would try his best to be here. He wants to attend the summit, and that would be great for our country.” Duterte was referring to the ASEAN Summit in 2017, which the Philippines will be hosting. The United States is a regular attendee of the ASEAN Summit.

Trump has also invited Duterte to the White House and New York City during their conversation. According to Duterte, Trump “wants to be notified of my presence” if he is ever in the US.

He also mentioned that Trump was sensitive to his campaign against drugs. “He wishes me well in my campaign,” said Duterte, adding that Trump said the country is “doing it as a sovereign nation… the right way.” He added that Trump understood the way his administration is handling the drug problem, saying “there is nothing wrong in protecting your country.”

 

Source: RTV Malacañang Youtube channel, CNN Philippines, Rappler, Reuters, Time Magazine