Continued upward trajectory: US-Phil relations under Trump

Over the past two and a half weeks since President Donald Trump took his oath of office as the 47th President of the United States, we're very pleased to note that our relationship with the US is very positive and continues in its upward trajectory.

- AMBASSADOR B. ROMUALDEZ

While there are some issues surrounding the relationship—with one of them obviously involving the new US government's immigration policy which may affect many Filipinos in the United States—we are confident that our longstanding alliance and special relations will enable us to resolve these concerns in a positive and mutually satisfactory manner.

At the onset, the general tenor has been very cordial and pleasant, beginning with that congratulatory phone call to then president-elect Donald Trump by President Marcos, who expressed his "continuing desire to strengthen" the relationship between the two countries, which is "as deep as can possibly be" because it has been in existence for a very long time.

Subsequently, the call of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to our Foreign Affairs Secretary Ricky Manalo—actually one of the first phone calls made by the former senator as Secretary of State—was also very encouraging, with the US Cabinet Secretary reiterating the ironclad commitment of the US to the Philippines under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, along with an exchange of views on how security cooperation and economic ties can be expanded for shared prosperity.

This was followed by our in-person meeting with Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, as well as Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong and National Security Council Senior Director for Asia Ivan Kanapathy at the West Wing of the White House.