Did Philippines really return to the US side after Trump won? Nope.
MANILA, Philippines — In his first-ever meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., US President Donald Trump claimed credit for the Philippines’ supposed return to Washington’s side. It is a claim unsupported by the timeline of events.
Trump criticized former president Rodrigo Duterte for cozying up to China, saying the shift could have spelled trouble for the Philippines.
“You can deal with China. You should deal with China. But when I got elected, everything changed, and they came right back to us,” Trump said during his meeting with Marcos on Tuesday, July 22 (Washington time).
While Duterte indeed pivoted away from Washington during his term and even sought to terminate the US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement, Marcos had already begun restoring ties with the US two years before Trump was elected for a second, non-consecutive term.
Timeline contradicts Trump’s narrative. Marcos has consistently asserted an independent foreign policy. But his effort to rebuild defense and diplomatic ties with the US was clear early in his presidency.
After winning the 2022 election, Marcos made his first official trip outside Southeast Asia for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he met then-US President Joe Biden.
In 2024, Marcos attended a landmark trilateral summit with Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He also previously met with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who, like Biden, became a frequent target of Trump’s political tirades.
Throughout this period, US officials repeatedly assured the Philippines of Washington’s “ironclad” security commitment , years before Trump returned to the presidency.
This means that the Philippines did not decide to return to the US only after Trump won another shot at the presidency.
Did US fight off terrorists in the Philippines?
Trump also claimed credit for the defeat of Islamic State militants in the Philippines.
“The Philippines were loaded up with ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and a lot of terrorists, and they were at a very, very dangerous point,” the American leader said. “And during my administration, we went in and we wiped them out..
"But if we didn't go in, I dont know what would have happened,” Trump continued.
While Washington did provide counterterrorism and intelligence support, including US Special Operations Forces assistance during the 2017 Marawi siege, Trump’s assertion that the country was “loaded up” with IS agents and that the US “wiped them out” lacks context and accuracy.
The US was not the only foreign partner that aided the Philippines during the Marawi conflict. Australia, China and Russia also provided military and humanitarian assistance during the five-month battle.
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