US President Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. (Photo: Philstar) Hanoi (VNA) – US President Donald Trump met his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte for the first time on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Vietnam’s central Da Nang city on November 11.
The meeting was “short but warm and cordial,” Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque told reporters. “The two leaders were genuinely pleased to have finally met each other in person”.
Trump will fly to Manila, the Philippines, on November 12 for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit on the last leg of his 12-day tour of Asia.
According to observers, Trump will try to restore the long-standing alliance which has become intense lately. About 220,000 Americans, including a large number of veterans, are living in the Philippines. The Southeast Asian nation welcomed some 650,000 American tourists every year.-VNA
