President Barack Obama and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte haven't exactly had the friendliest of relationships lately. Duterte, though, is hoping to get off on the right foot with the future President Donald Trump, and he plans to do so by appointing Jose E.B. Antonio as trade envoy to the U.S.
Antonio is no stranger to the Trump family; in fact, he is the real estate magnate behind Trump Tower Manila. Trump doesn't own the building — he has just licensed the Trump brand — but the president-elect and his family members have praised the venture in a promotional video. Ivanka Trump called Trump Tower Manila "flawless," Eric Trump deemed it "sexy," and the president-elect said, "It's really great working with Century Properties and the Antonio family. True professionals, they really know what they're doing. Trump Tower Manila is going to be something special."
Benjamin Muego, a professor at Manila's De La Salle University, told NPR that Antonio's appointment was impressive, and the benefits outweigh any potential conflicts of interest. "If you're looking for somebody to try to smooth over strained relations, then who better to serve as a conduit than someone who's known to both and enjoys their trust?" 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.
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
