Philippines President Claims Trump Wished Him ‘Success’ in Drug Crackdown
The president of the Philippines claims that when he spoke to Donald Trump, the president-elect wished him “success” in his crackdown on drug offenders.
President Rodrigo Duterte has a reputation for being rather colorful and unfiltered, and earlier this year he referred to President Obama as a “son of a whore.”
Duterte told reporters on Saturday about his call with Trump the previous day, and he said this:
“He was quite sensitive also to our worry about drugs and he wishes me well in my campaign and said that we are doing it as a sovereign nation, the right way… I could sense a good rapport [with] an animated President-elect Trump. He was wishing me success in my campaign against the drug problem. He understood the way we are handling it and said that there’s nothing wrong with protecting your country.”
For the record, this is what Duterte’s drug crackdown entails (per The New York Times):
Mr. Duterte has led a campaign against drug abuse in which he has encouraged the police and others to kill people they suspect of using or selling drugs. Since he took office in June, more than 2,000 people have been killed by the police in what officers describe as drug raids, and the police say several hundred more have been killed by vigilantes.
Team Trump has not yet commented on this, but as noted above, Duterte has a long history of making outlandish statements.
You can watch Duterte’s comments above, via the AFP.
[image via screengrab]
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