The Slatest

Does the President of the Philippines Hate America? Depends What Time of Day You Ask Him.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he speaks at the Davao International Airport on Saturday.

Manman Dejeto/AFP/Getty Images

Consistency is not one of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s virtues. On a visit to Japan Tuesday the president declared that the United States would remain the Philippines’ sole military ally, saying, “There should be no worry about changes of alliances. I do not need to have alliances with other nations.”

This is not exactly what he said when visiting Beijing last week, when he told Chinese leaders that “America has lost now. I’ve realigned myself to your ideological flow” and suggested a three-way anti-American alliance between China, Russia, and the Philippines.

It’s also not quite in the spirit of remarks he made at the airport earlier Tuesday morning just as he was boarding the flight to Japan, when he said, addressing the United States, “son of a bitch, do not make us your dogs, as if I am a dog with a leash, and you throw some bread, where I can’t reach.”

The U.S. and the Philippines are close military allies, particularly on counterterrorism and anti-drug issues. Until Duterte arrived on the scene, the Philippines had been at odds with China over overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, which the U.S is also concerned about. Recently, though, Duterte has been playing down the issues with China. But his problems with America seem less motivated by strategic calculations about his country’s relationship with China than personal animosity.

The bad blood dates back to when Duterte was campaigning for president earlier this year and U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg criticized him for joking about the rape of an Australian missionary. Duterte responded by calling Goldberg a “gay son of a whore.”  He also called President Obama a “son of a whore,” apparently his go-to insult, for criticizing his bloodthirsty anti-drug policies, which involve empowering police and vigilantes to kill hundreds of drug users and dealers. Duterte’s beef may actually go back even farther: In his remarks at the airport Tuesday morning, Duterte told a story of having once been denied a visa to travel to the United States to visit a girlfriend. Dude holds on to a grudge.

The U.S. seems a little flummoxed about how to deal with Duterte. His own subordinates sometimes seem just as confused. In September, foreign minister Perfecto Yasay denied that Duterte had ordered a halt to joint U.S.-Philippines military exercises, just moments after Duterte had ordered a halt to joint U.S.-Philippines military exercises. (At the moment, it’s unclear whether these operations will continue or not.) After Duterte’s remarks in Beijing, his spokesman Ernesto Abella denied that the Philippines was severing relations with the U.S. and said Duterte was merely hoping to forge an “independent foreign policy.” This hedging prompted White House spokesman Josh Earnest to dub Abella “the Filipino Mike Pence.” Silver lining: At least Hillary Clinton will have some practice dealing with a guy like Duterte by the time she gets into office.