President Trump has invited President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines to the White House, according to a readout of Trump’s call with the leader on Saturday.
“President Trump enjoyed the conversation and said that he is looking forward to visiting the Philippines in November,” the readout said. “President Trump also invited President Duterte to the White House to discuss the importance of the United States-Philippines alliance.”
Duterte made headlines last year when he told former President Barack Obama to “go to hell” after Obama criticized his drug war.
“I am the president of a sovereign country, and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people. Son of a b---h, I will swear at you,” he said.
Since Duterte took office last year, he has encouraged the extrajudicial killings of thousands of citizens accused of dealing or using drugs. He also compared himself to Adolf Hitler, likening his own “slaughter” of drug addicts to Hitler’s mass killing of Jews.
"There are 3 million drug addicts [in the Philippines]. I'd be happy to slaughter them," he said.
The White House readout noted that Trump and Duterte discussed the country’s war on drugs.
“They also discussed the fact that the Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world,” it read.
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