Trump Brags He Has ‘Great Relationship’ With Philippines President Who Says He’s Personally Killed Suspected Criminals

Duterte, a Human Rights Abuser, ‘Jokes’ Media Are ‘Spies’ and Trump Laughs

The President of the Philippines has repeatedly said he has personally killed suspected criminals. His record of human rights abuses is extensive. He has approved or allowed the extrajudicial murder of thousands of drug users and sellers. 

So it was especially concerning when President Donald Trump on Sunday bragged to reporters he has a “great relationship” with the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, and added that his visit with Duterte has been “very successful.”

Trump also laughed when Duterte, in front of reporters, called them “spies,” as The New York Times reported.

As journalists shouted questions about whether Mr. Trump would press Mr. Duterte on human rights, the Philippine president quickly silenced them.

“Whoa, whoa — this is not the press statement,” Mr. Duterte said. “We are in a bilateral meeting.”

“You are the spies,” he told the reporters, as Philippine security personnel jostled some of them roughly. The remarks elicited a hearty laugh from Mr. Trump before the journalists were led out of the room.

Duterte as recently as Friday bragged of personally killing people.

“President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines said on Friday that he had stabbed someone to death when he was a teenager, the latest claim from a leader who has boasted of personally killing people while defending a violent crackdown on drugs, The Times also reports.

“When I was a teenager, I had been in and out of jail, rumble here and there,” Mr. Duterte said during a speech to Filipinos in Danang, Vietnam. “At the age of 16, I already killed someone.”

He said he had stabbed the person “just over a look,” and he asked his audience in Vietnam to imagine what he could do as president.

“I won’t let you off the hook” if you mess around with Filipinos, he said. “Never mind about the human rights advocates.”

Mr. Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, said the comment had been meant as a joke. Officials loyal to the president have said he has a tendency to exaggerate.

Apparently “exaggeration” is a trait common among authoritarians.