Cozying up to China, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte vows to expel U.S. troops

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte declared Wednesday that he will seek to expel foreign military troops from his country within the next two years, Reuters reports. "I have declared that I will pursue an independent foreign policy," he said. "I want, maybe in the next two years, my country free of the presence of foreign military troops. I want them out."

Duterte's predecessor had agreed to visiting U.S. military troops in a security deal that was arranged in response to China's military forwardness; those troops now reside in five Philippine military camps. But Duterte has increasingly turned to China for support, claiming at a talk there last week that he would "separate" from the United States.

Duterte and President Obama have exchanged harsh words in the past, with Duterte calling Obama a "son of a b----" and telling him to "go to hell." Obama, for his part, has been outspoken against Duterte's violent and bloody war on drugs: "We're not going to back off on our position that if we're working with a country, whether it's on anti-terrorism, whether it's on going after drug traffickers, as despicable as these networks may be, as much as damage as they do, it is important from our perspective to make sure that we do it the right way," Obama said.

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In his speech Wednesday, Duterte added "if I have to revise or abrogate agreements, executive agreements, this shall be the last maneuver, war games between the United States and the Philippines military."