Foreign Affairs
Duterte Says He Might Be Too Busy To Meet Trump
No featured image available
President Donald Trump has invited the president of the Philippines to the White House, but the bombastic leader who fought fiercely with the Obama administration says he might be too busy to meet Trump.
“I’m tied up. I cannot make any definite promise,” President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday in Davao. He said he is already planning to visit Russia and Israel. Duterte also has plans to visit Cambodia and China, reports the Philippine Star. The president of the Philippines has previously told reporters that he is not a fan of long flights.
During a “friendly discussion” Saturday, Trump invited Duterte to visit the White House, an offer the president first made in December prior to his inauguration.
Trump’s decision to invite Duterte to the White House drew criticism from human rights advocates concerned by the ongoing war on drugs in the Philippines. The shoot-to-kill drug war launched by Duterte last summer has ended the lives of over 7,000 people. Many of those deaths are believed to be the results of extrajudicial killings.
“Countries with close bilateral ties to the Philippines, particularly the United States, have an obligation to urge accountability for the victims of Duterte’s abusive drug war, rather than offer to roll out the red carpet for official state visits with its mastermind,” explained Phelim Kine, the deputy director for Human Rights Watch’s Asia division.
The Trump administration reached out to Duterte to repair bilateral relations that deteriorated during the Obama administration, which was critical of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. The president of the Philippines once called former President Barack Obama a “son of a whore,” and in another incident, Duterte told him to “go to hell.”
Duterte has compared himself to Trump, as the two are both strong, anti-establishment, populist presidents. He expects to get along well with the new administration. “Things have changed, the new leadership wants to make friends,” Duterte told reporters Monday. It is unclear at this time whether Duterte will accept Trump’s offer.
Send tips to ryan@
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].