Rodrigo Duterte And Donald Trump: East Meets West

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The Philippines’ Duterte, left, and Trump (screen capture from “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”)

NEW YORK, New York (The Adobo Chronicles, Washington Bureau) – It was a secret, quickly-arranged meeting, captured only through the lens of an iPhone.  Philippine presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte came face to face with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.  It happened in an undisclosed penthouse office in New York City.

Duterte, described by Western media as the “Donald Trump of the East,” came in his trademark collared t-shirt, a sharp contrast to Trump’s suit and tie.

Trump spoke in English while Duterte spoke in Taglish — a mixture of English and Tagalog, the Philippines’ national language. Sources close to Duterte said the tough-talking, foul-mouthed mayor of Davao City blurted out some Filipino expletives here and there.

While no details of the meeting were released to the media, many are speculating that Trump had sought the advice of Duterte on how he can win in November’s U.S. general elections and how to deal with a female opponent (presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton).  Duterte had two female opponents for the presidency: Senators Grace Poe and Miriam Defensor-Santigao.

When the meeting was over, Trump treated Duterte to a catered lunch of steak and lobsters, but the mayor asked for dried fish, sour soup and rice.  While Trump consumed his steak and lobster with pure gold silverware, Duterte chose to eat with his bare hands, just like he normally does.

Overall, it was a meeting like no other – a meeting of two future (?) world leaders. We’ll revisit this in November!

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