(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, Sept. 4, called US President Donald Trump his “idol,” noting that the US leader “walks the talk.”
“When he says that I will do this, he does not care,” Duterte said.
This was in contrast to his expressed disdain for former US President Barack Obama, who he said humiliated him when he criticized the Philippines’ war on drugs publicly.
Duterte has since apologized for his statements against Obama.
“That’s the kind of thing that I also want,” Duterte said, referring to Trump’s form of governance.
“I do not care, I said, if I say that this is the way to do it then this is the way to do it. It has no personal agenda, it has nothing there except that the greater interest of the nation says that we have to be here,” he added.
Duterte has also called Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un his idols.
Duterte is on a four-day visit to Israel, the first from a Philippine leader.
