First Marcos-Trump meeting set

The first-ever bilateral meeting between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and United States President Donald Trump is taking place this month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed Friday.

Marcos will be in Washington, D.C. from 20 to 22 July, confirming details earlier disclosed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the DFA said.

“The Philippine government confirms the statement made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that President Marcos will visit the United States on 20-22 July,” the DFA statement read.

Rubio met with his counterparts, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, on the sidelines of the 58th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Malaysia where he revealed that Marcos and Trump will have their first bilateral meeting in Washington.

“(We) look forward to hosting the President of the Philippines in Washington in a few days,” he said.

The DFA said it was finalizing the details of Marcos’ Washington visit with the US State Department.

“We are working with the US State Department on the details of the visit. We will share more information once these are finalized,” it said.

Marcos announced his visit to the US last Sunday after Trump issued another round of tariff notices to at least seven countries, including the Philippines, a key US ally.

In the letter, Trump said the Philippines will be slapped with a higher 20-percent tariff which will take effect on 1 August to replace the 17-percent rate earlier set on 2 April.

The Marcos administration earlier said a trade delegation will be flying to the US to hold another round of negotiations on the matter.

This will be the President’s fourth official visit to the US since assuming office.

Marcos’ first visit to the US was in September 2022 when he traveled to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.

In 2023, the President took part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Summit in San Francisco and visited Los Angeles and Honolulu to meet with US business leaders and Filipino communities.