Trump’s ‘Very Friendly’ Talk With Duterte Stuns Aides and Critics Alike -
By MARK LANDLERAPRIL 30, 2017
WASHINGTON — When President Trump called President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines on Saturday, the American
leader’s national security aides saw it as part of a routine diplomatic outreach to Southeast Asian leaders.
“Although the traits of his personality likely make it impossible, Trump should be ashamed of himself.”
Administration officials said the call to Mr. Duterte was one of several to Southeast Asian leaders
that the White House arranged after picking up signs that they felt neglected because of Mr. Trump’s intense focus on China, Japan and tensions over North Korea.
During their “very friendly conversation,” the administration said in a late-night statement, Mr. Trump invited Mr. Duterte, an authoritarian
leader accused of ordering extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the Philippines, to visit him at the White House.
Administration officials said Mr. Trump wanted to mend the alliance with the Philippines
as a bulwark against China’s expansionism in the South China Sea.
“By essentially endorsing Duterte’s murderous war on drugs, Trump is now morally complicit
in future killings,” said John Sifton, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch.
