Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte met at the ASEAN summit, both presidents even shook their hands in a very special way. After the personal meeting, Mr Trump hails ‘great relationship’ with his counterpart Duterte.
Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines leader stands accused of acting with impunity over a brutal war on drugs that has left thousands dead but the American President made no mention of human rights during brief remarks to the press prior to a meeting with Duterte. Both presidents ignored shouted questions about the drugs crackdown and preferred not to touch such a sensitive issues at all.
The Asian trip of Donald Trump is going on, on Monday, the POTUS spent the very busy day, he met with leaders of 18 other nations for two days of summits on the final leg of a headline-grabbing tour of Asia dominated by the North Korean nuclear crisis. Duterte and Trump discussed their mutual distaste for Barack Obama, not the issue of the human rights.
In fact, the most painful aspect of the diplomatic relations today is the North Korean nuclear programme. According to Duterte’s spokesperson, Philippines President brought up with President Trump the drug menace in the Philippines and Donald Trump appeared sympathetic and did not have any official position on the matter but was merely nodding his head.
On Monday, ASEAN block’s country leaders had the special handshake, this common gesture should mean the spirit of cooperation and mutual support. The journalists said that it was the most awkward handshake in the history but the leaders looked happy and really had some fun.
