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Trump Defends Invite to Philippines' Duterte Amid Drug War

  • Country is important ‘strategically and militarily’: Trump
  • Trump invited Duterte to White House during weekend call
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The Popularity of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte

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U.S. President Donald Trump underscored his eagerness to meet with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte despite international condemnation of the Asian leader’s violent crackdown on drug addicts and dealers.

“The Philippines is very important to me strategically and militarily,” Trump said Monday in an Oval Office interview with Bloomberg News, two days after he invited the Philippine leader to Washington. “I look forward to meeting him. If he comes to the White House that’s fine.”