Like Trump, Duterte is known for his shocking statements.
Presidential spokesman Ernie Abella said Trump mentioned he was looking forward to visiting the Philippines in November to attend an East Asia summit that Duterte will host with several world leaders and that Trump invited Duterte to visit the White House.
After winning the election in the Philippines a year ago, Duterte reportedly visited a village in Manila where he instructed people to kill drug addicts.
If our country must deal with the Philippines, it can do so quietly without involving the president and the symbolism of a state visit.
Human rights groups say official accounts are implausible and accuse Duterte of backing campaign of systematic extrajudicial killings by police.
The New York Times on Sunday reported Trump hadn't consulted his State Department or National Security Council before inviting Duterte; an administration official denied that report to Reuters, claiming "the guys who prepared for the call were unified on this". In March, a retired Philippine police officer testified that Duterte and his men were linked to almost 200 killings that took place when Duterte was mayor of Davao city. I can not make any definite promise.
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USA and Philippine officials said Trump's calls and invitations to several Asian allies including Duterte were aimed at discussing the crisis over North Korea's nuclear threats.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte confirmed Thursday that he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the phone last Wednesday at the request of United States President Donald Trump.
In a media interview on Monday, Mr. Duterte said he would appeal to Mr. Trump to exercise restraint in the Korean Peninsula.
"Our greatest chance there of getting some dialogue with America and North Korea would be through the intercession of China", he added.
A phone call from the President of the U.S. to leaders around the world is normally part of the diplomatic process where ties to foreign countries are strengthened and maintained. A read out released of their call late Saturday stated the discussion was "very friendly" and the new relationship was headed in a positive direction. Nevertheless, with this utterly unwarranted invite, Trump is sending an unequivocal message to longtime strongmen, aspiring autocrats and the broader global community: The U.S. won't even pretend to care about human rights on Trump's watch.
"The objective of this call is all about North Korea". The Philippines Human Rights Commission conducted an investigation in 2009 of the killings in Davao, but no prosecution resulted.
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