President Donald Trump was set to host Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Tuesday at the White House, as the two countries are seeking closer security and economic ties in the face of shifting geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region. Marcos, who met Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, was set to become the first Southeast Asian leader to hold talks with Trump in his second term.
Marcos’s three-day visit comes amid China’s increasingly aggression in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing have clashed over the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal. Consecutive US governments have sought to shift military and economic focus to the Asia-Pacific in a bid to counter China. But, Trump, like others before him, has been distracted by efforts to broker peace in a range of conflicts, from Ukraine to Gaza.
Tariffs will also be on the agenda over Trump’s threats to impose 20 per cent tariffs on Filipino goods on August 1 unless the two sides can strike a deal. “I intend to convey to President Trump that the Philippines is ready to negotiate a deal to ensure strong, mutually beneficial and future-oriented collaborations that only the US and the Philippines will be able to take advantage of,” Marcos said.
US marines told to withdraw from LA
The Pentagon ordered the US Marines to leave Los Angeles on Monday, more than a month after President Donald Trump deployed them to the city against the objections of local leaders. The 700 Marines were deployed June 9 on the fourth day of protests in downtown LA over the administration’s crackdown on migrants. Four thousand National Guard soldiers were also deployed.
US says leaving UNESCO again
The US said on Tuesday it will pull out of the UN’s educational, scientific and cultural agency as it believes its involvement is not in the country’s national interest, and that the agency promotes anti-Israel speech. This comes two years after the US rejoined UNESCO after leaving in 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term as president.
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