Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez raised the possibility of President Marcos meeting United States President Donald Trump in Washington in the first half of this year.
(From left) President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. and US President Donald Trump (Photos from Palace, White House)
The ambassador said in an interview on Teleradyo Serbisyo on Monday, March 24, that this will be possible after the visit of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this month and a possible visit by State Secretary Marco Rubio in April.
“So, most likely, after the visits of these two officials from the United States, malalaman natin (we will know) the exact timing of President Marcos’ visit to the United States,” Romualdez shared, adding that he is hopeful this can be done “within the first half” of the year.
“Sinabi naman ng White House sa amin (The White House told us), ‘Definitely, we will invite the president to come,’” he added.
Washington, however, is still busy with the Ukraine-Russia peace talks, so it has yet to focus meeting with its Southeast Asian allies.
Meanwhile, while there are no exact dates yet for Rubio’s upcoming visit to the Philippines, the envoy said this could happen “in the next couple of weeks, probably by April.”
Hegseth, on the other hand, will be in Manila from March 28 to 29 to meet with Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. and President Marcos.
The meeting will touch on Beijing’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea as well as the possibly “more significant support” to the Philippine military by the Trump administration, Romualdez earlier told The Associated Press.
These high-ranking visits will come amid questions on how the Trump administration’s “America First” policy will affect the depth of its commitment to the Philippines, which lately has forged defense agreements with longtime allies to counter China’s aggressiveness in the South China Sea.