Rodrigo Duterte Says He May Be Too Busy for White House Visit<br />that I cannot make any definite promise,<br />By FELIPE VILLAMORMAY 1, 2017<br />MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines said on Monday<br />that he might not accept President Trump’s invitation to visit the White House, because he was "tied up" with a busy schedule.<br />On Monday, Mr. Trump told Bloomberg News that he was open to meeting Mr. Kim "under the right circumstances." Mr. Duterte, who once referred to President Barack Obama as a "son of a whore," suggested on Monday<br />that his differences with the United States had had much to do with Mr. Obama.<br />White House officials said Mr. Trump had called Mr. Duterte in an effort to mend their countries’<br />recently strained relationship, as a bulwark against China’s expansionism in the South China Sea.<br />Phelim Kine said that Countries with close bilateral ties to the Philippines, particularly the United States, have an obligation to urge accountability<br />for the victims of Duterte’s abusive drug war, rather than offer to roll out the red carpet for official state visits with its mastermind,<br />Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, said Mr. Trump also wanted to build a united<br />front in Asia in opposition to North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear and missile technology.<br />Duterte said that It was not a distancing, but it was rather a rift between me, maybe,<br />and the State Department and Mr. Obama, who spoke openly against me,
