President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos speaks during a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on July 21, 2025. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP
WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump told Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the two nations are recalibrating their ties and minimizing influence from the Chinese Communist Party, when the leaders met at the White House on Tuesday for bilateral talks focused on security and trade.
“The country was maybe tilting towards China, but we un-tilted it very, very quickly,” Trump said during the nearly 40-minute Oval Office meeting. “You had a country that was tilting toward China for a period of time, and I just don’t think that would have been good for you.”
