UNITED States (US) President Donald Trump on Monday was all praises for President Rodrigo Duterte during their bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.
Trump, in a speech, reaffirmed that the US still has "great" ties with the Philippines.
The American leader, who congratulated Duterte for "beautifully" handling the regional bloc's forum, expressed his appreciation for the Philippine government's "great treatment" to Asean leaders and their dialogue partners who graced the event.
"We've had a great relationship," Trump told Duterte.
"I really enjoyed being here. We very much appreciate the great treatment that you have given," he added.
Philippine foreign policy, since Duterte assumed the presidency in July 2016, has veered toward China and Russia and away from the US, a long-time ally of the Philippines.
Duterte had several times issued profanity-laden remarks against Trump's predecessor, former US president Barack Obama, who had criticized the deadly war on illegal drugs.
Duterte and Trump first met face-to-face during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Da Nang, Vietnam. But they had conversations over the phone in December and in May.
Trump lauded Duterte, this year's chairperson of Asean, for the "successful" hosting of the regional summit.
He also told Duterte that he had "tremendous time" with Duterte.
"This has been very successful. We have many meetings today with many leaders. The Asean conferences have been handled beautifully by the President of the Philippines and your representatives," Trump said.
"I thought last night's event was fantastic, tremendous talent. Most of them, I guess from the Philippines, (have) the tremendous talent -- musical talent, (and) dance talent. We really had a tremendous time with all of the leaders. On behalf of everybody, I wanna thank you," he added. (VoxPop Philippines)