Trump Invited A Controversial World Leader To The White House

The invitation further signals Trump’s willingness to praise and publicly associate with illiberal world leaders.

Since taking office in June, Duterte’s presidency has been marked by his continued war against the country’s drug offenders.

Duterte’s toxic reputation had given pause to some in the White House.

US President Donald Trump didn’t seem to mind. A bill introduced last summer by his allies would lower the age of criminal responsibility for drug offenses from 15 years old to nine.

Trump said Thursday there was “a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea”, but added he would prefer a diplomatic resolution. A representative from the Duterte administration confirmed the phone call.

Since Duterte came to power, thousands of people have been slain in extrajudicial drug raids. Between July 1 and November 25, Humans Rights Watch reported, police statistics reveal that 1,959 suspected “drug pushers users” and 3,658 “unknown vigilantes” were killed by police – compared to just 68 killings between January and June of 2016.

Under Duterte’s direction, thousands of people associated with the drug trade have been murdered by police forces and vigilantes under the direction of the president.

Karl keeps pressing Priebus on whether Trump said anything about Duterte’s human rights record on their phone call. Stray bullets have killed children as young as four-years-old. “And I’m sure that if war breaks out in the Korean Peninsula, the imponderables of life is really, you can not foresee, even project what will happen”. “I don’t care about human rights, you better believe me”, Duterte said last August.

Trump called Duterte Saturday night after the closing ceremonies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit hosted by the Philippines.

During Obama’s final months in office, the Philippine president moved to build closer economic ties with China and Russian Federation while repeatedly threatening to end his nation’s longstanding military alliance with the US.

President Duterte had previously publicly disparaged former U.S. President Barack Obama, making the extension of friendship from the White House to the intense Philippine leader all the more shocking for American Trump supporters and critics alike. In October, he said on a visit to Beijing “I announce my separation from the United States”. After the White House invitation, which is set for sometime in November, the two reportedly touched upon the numerous tricky issues between them, including the treaty alliance, the war on drugs and the escalating tension between the USA and North Korea.

Trump had a “very friendly conversation with Duterte”, according to a statement issued by the White House on April 29.

Human Rights Watch and other critics reacted with alarm and outrage Monday at Trump’s invitation for Duterte to visit the White House in a telephone call where the leader of the free world also affirmed America’s treaty alliance and friendship with the Philippines and its new president, who has had an antagonistic stance toward US security policies.