Duterte: Trump supports PH war on drugs
President Rodrigo Duterte said United States President-elect Donald Trump is supporting his brutal war on illegal drugs.
Duterte and Trump had an “engaging” phone conversation on Friday night.
READ: Duterte had a ‘very engaging, animated’ talk with Trump, says Go
“The President-elect Trump wishes to extend his warmest regards to the Filipino people. And in just a few minutes, we were talking [about] a lot of things. He was quite sensitive also to our worry about drugs,” Duterte said of their conversation.
The 71-year-old chief executive said “he could sense a good rapport” with Trump.
“I could sense a good rapport, an animated President-elect Trump. And he was wishing me success in my campaign against the drug problem,” he said.
“He understood the way we are handling it and I said that there’s nothing wrong in protecting a country. It was a bit very encouraging in the sense that I supposed that what he really wanted to say was that we would be the last to interfere in the affairs of your own country,” he added.
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Duterte’s no-nonsense crackdown on illegal drugs has received criticisms from US President Barack Obama. This did not sit well with Duterte and has repeatedly slammed Obama for interfering in our domestic affairs.
Article continues after this advertisementBut with the incoming Trump presidency, Duterte assured stronger ties with America. He said Trump wishes him well in his war on drugs.
“And he wishes me well too, in my campaign and he said that… well we are doing it as a sovereign nation, the right way. And he wishes us well. And I said that, well, we assured him of our ties with America,” he said.
Duterte said Trump would be a good President for the US.
“I appreciate the response that I got from President-elect Trump and I would like to wish him success. He will be a good president for the United States of America. I am very sure,” he said.
He said Trump invited him to visit the White House in 2017.
“And he has invited me to visit New York and Washington DC, he said that if I’m around, he wants to be notified of my presence and maybe…,” he said.
In return, Duterte also invited Trump to attend the 2017 Asean Summit in the Philippines.
“And I mentioned to him about the ASEAN Summit next year and he said that he will try his best to be here. He wants to attend the Summit and that would be great for our country,” he said. CDG
