Obama tussles with Putin, Duterte at G20 summit
President Barack Obama closed out his three days at the G20 economic summit in Hangzhou, China, on Monday by meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obama called the conversations "productive," although he blamed issues of trust for preventing the two from agreeing on a plan for ending the war in Syria.
Still, Obama deemed Putin "less colorful" than Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has declared himself "no American puppet" in response to a pending confrontation from the White House over his extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers. "Who does [Obama] think he is? ... Son of a b----, I will swear at you," Duterte said during a Monday speech.
Obama and Duterte are supposed to meet in Laos later this week, although Obama suggested he might call the meeting off: "I always want to make sure if I'm having a meeting that it's productive and we're getting something done," he said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
China’s single mothers are teaming upUnder the Radar To cope with money pressures and work commitments, single mums are sharing homes, bills and childcare
-
Employees are branching out rather than moving up with career minimalismThe explainer From career ladder to lily pad
-
‘It is their greed and the pollution from their products that hurt consumers’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
-
Hegseth blames ‘fog of war’ for potential war crimespeed read ‘I did not personally see survivors,’ Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting
-
Canada joins EU’s $170B SAFE defense fundspeed read This makes it the first non-European Union country in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative
-
Appeals court disqualifies US Attorney Alina HabbaSpeed Read The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump has been unlawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey, the ruling says
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crimeSpeed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
