Trump Called Rodrigo Duterte to Congratulate Him on His Murderous Drug War: You Are Doing an Amazing Job – The Intercept

In a phone call from the White Houselate last month,U.S. President Donald Trump heaped praise on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte,one of the worlds most murderous heads of state, fordoing what Trump called anunbelievable job in his war on drugs. Trump offered an unqualified endorsement of Dutertes bloody extermination campaign against suspected drug dealers and users, which has includedopen calls for extrajudicial murders and promises of pardons and immunity for the killers.

You are a good man, Trump told Duterte, according to an official transcript of the April 29 call produced by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and obtained by The Intercept. Keep up the good work, Trump told Duterte. You are doing an amazing job.

Trump began the call by telling Duterte, You dont sleep much, youre just like me, before quickly pivoting to the strongmans drug war.

I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem, Trump told Duterte at the beginning of theircall, according to the document. Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.

Thank you Mr. President, replied Duterte. This is the scourge of my nation now and I have to do something to preserve the Filipino nation.

The transcript, which contains numerous typographical errors, was authenticated by well-placed sources in the Palace and the Department of Foreign Affairs by reporters at the Manila-basednews outlet Rappler, which collaborated with The Intercept onthis story.

Since Duterte took office in June, Philippinenational police and vigilante death squads have embarked on a campaign to slaughterdrugusersas well as drug dealers. Hitler massacred three million Jews [sic], now,theres three million drug addicts. Id be happy to slaughter them, he said in September. Last month, he told a group ofjoblessFilipinosthat they should kill all the drug addicts. Police have killed over 7,000 people, devastated poor areas of Manila and other cities, and used the drug war as a pretext to murder government officials and community leaders.

The new details of Trumps call with Duterte comeon the heels of the Philippine presidents announcement that he is imposing martial law on the autonomous island of Mindanao, where government forces are battling Islamist rebels. If I had to kill thousands of people just to keep Philippines a thousand times safer, I will not have doubts doing it, Duterte said.

On the April 29 call, Trump pointed out to Dutertethat his predecessor in the White Househad been critical of the rising body count under Dutertes reign in the Philippines, but that Trump himself gets it. I understand that, and fully understand that, and I think we had a previous president who did not understand that, Trump said, but I understand that and we have spoken about this before.

Whenthe Obamaadministration offeredsome tempered criticism of Duterteskilling spree, Duterte called the U.S. presidentthe son of a whore and an idiot who can go to hell. Speaking in Beijing inOctober, Duterte said, America has lost now. Ive realigned myself in your ideological flow.And maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world: China, Philippines and Russia. Its the only way.

However, inthe wake of Trumps election, Dutertesaid, I dont want to quarrel anymore, because Trump has won. Onthe April call, Trump addressed Duterte warmly by his first name, Rodrigo, and Duterte thanked Trump for his sentiments on Obama.

This week, Duterte was slated to beinRussia for a five-day trip, including a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, whom he has called his favorite hero. On Tuesday, Duterte announced from Moscow that he was cutting the trip short in light of his declaration of martial law and fighting between rebels and the government in Mindanao.

Following the call last month, the White House publicly described a very friendly conversation that culminated with an invitation for an Oval Office meeting. To endorse Duterte is to endorse a man who advocates mass murder and who has admitted to killing people himself, said John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, reacting to the transcript. Endorsing his methods is a celebration of the death of the poor and vulnerable.

A member of a Scene of the Crime Operatives team investigates the scene where two alleged robbers were killed after a gun fight with police in Manila on Feb. 8, 2017.

Photo: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images

Dutertes police killings are widely recognized by the international community as an ongoing atrocity. The war on drugs has drawncondemnationfrom theUnited Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, and last month a Philippinelawyer filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court accusing Duterte of mass murder and crimes against humanity. The State Departments annual human rightsreportacknowledges thousands of extrajudicial killings with impunity and calls themthe countrys chief human rights concern.

Killing is nothing new for Duterte. His bloody record started in 1988, when he became the mayor of Davao City, a coastal city in the southern Philippines. During his tenure,he earned the nickname the Death Squad Mayor a titlehe embraces. According to oneformer hitman, Duterte formed an organization called the Davao Death Squad a mafia-like organization of plainclothes assassins that would kill suspected criminals, journalists, and opposition politicians, often from the backs of motorcycles. Multiple former members of the group have come forward and said that they killed people on Dutertes direct orders.

Duterte has even bragged that he personally killed criminals from the back of a motorcycle.In Davao I used to do it personally, hetolda group of business leaders in Manila. Just to show to the guys [police officers] that if I can do it, why cant you.

In 2016, Duterte campaigned on a policy of mass extermination for anyone involved in the drug trade. Id be happy to slaughter them. If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have me, Duterte said after his inauguration in September.

Despite human rights concerns, the U.S. has long consideredthe Philippines a military ally, and under Obama the U.S. gave the countrys military tens of millions of dollars in weapons and resourcesper year. The U.S. government does notprovide lethal weapons directly to the PhilippineNational Police, which has a decadeslong history of extrajudicial killings. But it does allow U.S. weapons manufacturers to sell to them directly. In 2015 the State Department authorized more than $250 million in arms sales from U.S. defense contractors to security forces in the Philippines.

After Dutertes election, Obamas State Department halted one sale of assault rifles to the Philippines, largely due to the objections of Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., the leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Philippines became a colony of the United States in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War. A long insurgency followed, and the country didnt win full independence until 1946.

Disclosure:Omidyar Network is an investor in Rappler, an independent news organization based in the Philippines. The Intercepts publisher, First Look Media, was founded by Pierre Omidyar.

Top photo: A drug suspect lies dead in a hallway during an alleged shootout with police in Manila, Philippines, on Aug. 18, 2016.

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Trump Called Rodrigo Duterte to Congratulate Him on His Murderous Drug War: You Are Doing an Amazing Job - The Intercept