Donald Trump hailed his “great relationship” with Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, declining to condemn his Philippine counterpart’s violent crackdown on drug trafficking as the two presidents held their first bilateral talks.
The US president spoke of the warm weather in Manila and a “fantastic” evening hosted by Mr Duterte at a regional summit on Sunday — but both men batted away questions about human rights.
“Whoa, whoa,” Mr Duterte said during a brief meeting with reporters before meeting Mr Trump. “This is not a press statement. This is the bilateral meeting.” The Philippine leader called reporters “spies”, evoking a laugh from the US president.