"We're actually staying an extra day in the Philippines. We have a big conference, the second conference, and I think we're going to have great success," President Trump told reporters at the White House before he left for his official trip to several Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
"I would deal with President Trump in the most righteous way, welcome him as an important leader, as a matter of fact, the important leader on this side of the planet," President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said of the US president, who will be joined by 20 other world leaders including United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Meanwhile, President Trump is also expected to visit the house of President Duterte in Davao City before going back to the US. It can be recalled that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Duterte’s house last January 13 during his official visit to the country. Abe ate breakfast with Duterte and saw the latter’s simple life despite being the president.
That time, President Trump has not yet sworn into office as the newly elected president of the United States, after winning against Hillary Clinton in the November 2016 elections. Here in the Philippines, President Duterte has been slamming the US for interfering in his intensified war against illegal drugs, and is in cold shoulder with then-US President Barack Obama.
Nevertheless, political analysts are now saying that President Duterte has already lowered his tone against the US, and that’s because he and President Trump have common styles of leadership. Observers also believe that Trump’s visit to Duterte’s house will rebuild the ‘friendship’ between US and the Philippines, but this time it will be “less strings attached.”
Contributed by Salvi Dalida
No comments:
Post a Comment