Trump declared on Wednesday during a televised forum attended by military veterans that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been a better leader than Obama.
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In a statement released Tuesday, Duterte admitted the “immediate cause” of the postponement of his meeting with Obama was his “strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress”.
Obama brushed off angry comments from Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, saying the bombastic leader has mouthed off before.
Duterte sent his Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay to lead the Filipino delegation in ASEAN’s meetings with India and the USA and in the East Asia Summit, EFE news reported.
The Philippines and the United States also subtly differed in their opinions on how to proceed regarding the UN-backed worldwide tribunal ruling in July that rejected China’s vast territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Duterte and Obama have traded blows in a bruising diplomatic bust-up this week, culminating in a stand-off at an Asian summit over the crackdown in the Philippines which has left 3 000 dead.
Mr Obama cancelled a planned meeting with Mr Duterte at this week’s Asean summit in Laos after the Philippine leader’s alleged insult in his native Tagalog, but the two met briefly later as they waited to take their seats at a banquet.
The showdown was a fitting climax to a brutal few days of diplomacy that began with the famously acid-tongued Duterte branding Obama a “son of a whore”.
The two presidents are in the Laotian capital along with other regional leaders for the ASEAN Summit.
Obama’s call came shortly after Duterte gave what diplomats said was a “fiery” address to leaders of the 18-nation East Asia group, including Obama.
“I expect to work very hard over the next four and a half months”, he said.
Duterte was elected to office in a landslide this year after pledging to kill 100,000 people in an unprecedented war on crime. You must be respectful.
Obama also said he believes the media have overblown the significance of controversial incidents during his Asia trip, including a scuffle over how the president exited Air Force One in China and insulting remarks made by the president of the Philippines. “[Son of a bitch, I’ll curse you infront of everybody.] Tell that to everybody”, Duterte said.
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“I have confidence that if, in fact, people just listen to what he has to say or look at his track record – or lack thereof – that they’ll make a good decision”.
