WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Saturday invited the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, to the White House, embracing an authoritarian leader who is accused of ordering extrajudicial killings of drug dealers and who crudely disparaged Mr Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama.
Mr Trump had a "very friendly conversation with Mr Duterte", according to a statement issued by the White House late Saturday. It said that the two leaders "discussed the fact that the Philippines is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs".
In fact, Mr Duterte’s war on drugs has resulted in the deaths of several thousand suspected drug dealers, bringing condemnation from human rights groups and many Western governments.
A Duterte spokesman, Ernesto Abella, confirmed the White House invitation, saying that Mr Trump had expressed "his understanding and appreciation of the challenges facing the Philippine president, especially on the matter" of drugs.
Mr Trump’s embrace of the Philippine leader comes a week after Trump called to congratulate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey for his victory in a disputed referendum that cemented his autocratic rule. He has also lavishly praised President Xi Jinping of China in recent days for his cooperation in pressuring North Korea, overlooking the fact that Mr Xi, too, has shown an increasingly repressive streak in his country.
Mr Trump has spoken warmly of the Egyptian leader, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who seized power in a military coup. And he vowed during the presidential campaign to reset relations with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
An outspoken populist with a shoot-from-the-hip style, Mr Duterte shares some characteristics with Mr Trump. That was not the case with Mr Obama, whom Mr Duterte called a "son of a whore" when he was asked how he would react if Mr Obama raised human rights issues with him. He later apologised, and his aides said his comment was an expression of frustration rather than a personal attack against the US president.
In its statement, the White House suggested that Mr Trump was eager to mend relations. The president’s invitation, it said, was aimed at discussing "the importance of the United States-Philippine alliance, which is now headed in a very positive direction".