Philippines says Trump recognized 'great job' Duterte is doing

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS | Tue May 2, 2017 | 8:58am EDT

Philippines says Trump recognized 'great job' Duterte is doing

U.S. President Donald Trump was aware of the criticism Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte had received over his controversial war on drugs, but praised him for doing a "great job" when they spoke, Duterte's spokesman said on Tuesday.

Trump's invitation to the Philippine leader to visit him at the White House unleashed a storm of criticism in Washington due to the scale of the bloodshed of Duterte's anti-drugs campaign, which has killed thousands of people over the past 10 months.

The White House defended the invitation made during a phone call on Saturday, acknowledging that though human rights were an important issue, Washington needed allies in Asia to address the global threat of North Korea's development of nuclear weapons.

Duterte's spokesman, Ernesto Abella, said Trump was very much aware of the criticism of Duterte, but had praised him for "doing a great job considering the weight and the enormity of the conditions in the Philippines".

It was not clear if Abella was quoting Trump as praising the anti-drugs campaign specifically, or Duterte's performance as president in general.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-usa-idUSKBN17Y1B3

[SHRED]

1. I heard Dueterte had journalists killed also?

[Eugene]

2. Part of why 45 likes him so much.