(The Lion) — The White House hosted a bilateral meeting on Tuesday between President Donald Trump and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines to discuss trade, military cooperation and economic ties.
“We’re going to talk about trade today, and we’re very close to finishing a trade deal,” Trump told The Lion and other reporters in the Oval Office. “Big trade deal, actually. And we do a lot of business with you. It’s a lot of it’s a lot of income coming in for both for both groups. But I was surprised to see the kind of numbers. They’re very big, and they’re going to get bigger under what we’re doing and what we’re proposing.”
Marcos called the relationship between the two countries “very strong” and “as important a relationship as is possible.”
The Philippines’ location near the South China Sea is strategic military, as well, as the U.S. attempts to hamper Chinese aggression in the area.
“We’re going to be talking about war and peace. They’re a very important nation militarily, and we’ve had some great drills lately,” Trump added, speaking of U.S. military exercises held on the nation of islands. “We’re back with them.”
Following the meeting, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the parties “concluded our Trade Deal, whereby the Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs. The Philippines will pay a 19% Tariff,” he wrote. “In addition, we will work together Militarily.”
In a wide-ranging press conference, Trump also announced a commitment from AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company, to spend $50 billion building plants in the U.S., criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and emphasized the need for strong border security after the Biden administration’s lax immigration policies.
Trump was also asked about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s criminal referral to the Justice Department over the so-called Russian collusion hoax. On Friday, Gabbard’s office released a statement alleging “President Obama and his national security cabinet members manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump.”
“This was treason,” Trump said, naming former President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, James Comey, James Clapper and Hillary Clinton as all deserving of investigation.
“If you look at that those papers, they have a stone cold and it was President Obama. It wasn’t lots of people all over the place. It was them too, but the leader of the gang was President Obama, Barack Hussein, Obama,” the president said. “Have you heard of him? And except for the fact that he gets shielded by the press for his entire life. That’s the one they look he’s guilty. It’s not a question, you know, I like to say, let’s give it time. It’s there. He’s guilty.”
