Marcos, Trump bilateral meeting slated on ASEAN sidelines—DFA exec

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and US President Donald Trump are scheduled to have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit here next week, an official in charge of preparations said on Thursday.

Trump is expected to arrive in Manila on November 17, Department of Foreign Affairs – ASEAN Office Executive Director Dominic Imperial told ANC’s Headstart.

“President Trump is coming so there will definitely be a bilateral engagement between President Trump and President Marcos,” he said.

The DFA has yet to announce the agenda of the meeting, but Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro earlier hinted at a deal that would be announced during the US President’s Manila visit.

“The command and control initiative is essential for our cyber and IT resilience and it forms the basis of our sharing of classified information with like-minded ASEAN partners and within us too because it is very porous,” Teodoro told Headstart earlier this month.

“Now, of the commitments they made, l will reserve the announcements to be made perhaps during the visit of President Trump,” he said.

“These are not cash grants, these are hard grants of equipment and capabilities so no cash is involved.”

Trump is also expected to attend the ASEAN-US Special Summit where the American president and Southeast Asian leaders are expected to discuss key issues, Imperial said.

Aside from Trump, Marcos is also expected to have bilateral meetings with the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Japan and South Korea, Imperial said.