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MANILA, Philippines – After six months of telegraphing a proposed Oval Office meeting followed by two unilateral tariff hike announcements, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. is making his first official visit to the White House under US President Donald Trump.
Marcos arrived Monday morning, July 21 (Manila time), in Washington, DC. Along with top Philippine government officials, he will be meeting with Trump on July 22 (DC time) at the White House.
The visit is meant to “further strengthen the Philippines-United States alliance, to proactively engage the US in all aspect of the relations and seize opportunities for greater security and economic cooperation,” according to the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“We will continue to underscore that for the Philippines to be a truly strong partner for the United States, we need to be stronger economically as well,” Assistant Secretary Raquel Solano of the DFA’s Office of American Affairs, told reporters in a Malacañang briefing on July 18.
Three urgent issues cover the bilateral ties between both countries: security, trade, and immigration. As Marcos flew to DC, Filipino workers aboard a dock cruise ship were reportedly removed in a raid at the Port of Norfolk in Virginia.
Meetings with Rubio, Hegseth
Prior to the meeting with Trump, Marcos, and key Cabinet members will be sitting down with State Secretary Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on July 21 (DC time).
Rubio has met with his Philippine counterparts before — both former DFA chief Enrique Manalo and newly-appointed Secretary for Foreign Affairs Maria Theresa Lazaro. Hegseth, meanwhile has visited Manila before — his first stop during his first-ever visit to the Indo-Pacific as defense chief.
Marcos’ visit comes at a crucial time for the two countries and the ways they want to relate with the world.
For Trump, this would be about his administration’s efforts to redefine what it means for the US to engage with the world, in particular America’s allies from the Global South. For Marcos, this would be about increasing and expanding foreign engagements.
Joining Marcos in the three-day official visit are Lazaro, Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Secretary of Trade and Investments Christina Roque, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, Acting Presidential Communications Office Secretary Dave Gomez, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go, and Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez.
Marcos has visited the White House twice as President of the Philippines, both with Joe Biden as President. The second one was for a historic leaders summit between the US, Philippines, and Japan.
For this visit, Marcos will be staying at Blair House, the US President’s Guest House located just a stone’s throw away from the White House. In previous visits, Marcos stayed at a hotel but held meetings at Blair House.
Negotiations for a meeting — and those tariffs
Confirmation of the visit — from Rubio, and in a chance interview on the sidelines of the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meetings in Kuala Lumpur — was made just after Trump made public letters he had written to several countries, announcing new tariffs rates, which are supposed to take effect on August 1.
For the Philippines, the new rate was three percentage points higher (from 17% to 20%) compared to the one announced the first time Trump made public his so-called reciprocal tariffs.
But this is not just about tariffs. There have been months of aggressively pushing for — and then holding back from organizing — a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders.
Right after Trump took office in January 2025, Ambassador Romualdez had been keen on arranging a White House visit. There was talk of a supposed meeting in Spring 2025, which was unlikely, because Marcos had to campaign for his senatorial bets in the 2025 midterms. He then had to focus on the fallout of his coalition’s dismal showing in the polls.
And then there was also the headline-grabbing and disastrous meeting between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February 2025, which caused even the staunchest believers in the Philippine-United States relationship to take pause.
Defense commitments
The enduring relationship between Manila and Washington is rooted in robust security and defense ties. In 2026, the two countries will celebrate the 75th year of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), or the commitment of both the Philippines and United States to come to each others’ support in the event of an attack.
“My visit to Washington, D.C., and most importantly, my meeting with President Trump, is essential to continuing to advance our national interests and strengthening our alliance,” said Marcos shortly before he left for the US on Sunday, July 20. “During this visit, we will reaffirm our commitment to fostering our long-standing alliances as an instrument of peace and a catalyst of development in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.”
Even as Trump has sought to cut down on overseas spending — most dramatically and crushingly, by shutting down the US Agency for International Development (USAID) — Washington has doubled down on its commitments to Manila when it comes to security.
During Hegseth’s visit to Manila in March, he emphasized the need to create a credible deterrence in the region amid “threats from the communist Chinese.” It was during that visit that the US reaffirmed a commitment made under the previous Biden administration of $500-million in foreign military financing, as well as the deployment of a new anti-ship missile system.
The US also announced a “bilateral special operation forces training” in the northernmost province of Batanes and the prioritization of “bilateral defense industrial cooperation.”
The US Embassy in Manila recently confirmed that both countries approved the creation of a new boat maintenance facility at the Naval Detachment Oyster Bay in Palawan, where naval and maritime operations in the West Philippine Sea are often launched.
US Congress is also eyeing the creation of an ammunition production and storage facility in Subic, although concrete proposals have yet to reach the desk of Teodoro in Manila.
What about those tariffs?
While defense and security commitments seem ironclad, it’s trade that’s now become a difficult concern for the treaty-allies.
“My top priority for this visit is to push for greater economic engagement, particularly through trade and investment between the Philippines and the United States,” Marcos said.
Members of the Marcos Cabinet flew to the US ahead of the President himself, including economic managers who negotiated tariffs with their US counterparts.
“I intend to convey to President Trump and his Cabinet officials that the Philippines is ready to negotiate a bilateral trade deal that will ensure strong, mutually beneficial and future-oriented collaborations that only the United States and the Philippines will be able to take advantage of,” said Marcos.
Before the new 20% rate was announced, through a templated letter that Trump sent to several of his counterparts, envoys to the Philippines and United States seemed confident negotiations were going in the right direction.
And then immigration
Alongside trade and security, Philippine and US officials often emphasize robust people-to-people ties between the two nations.
One issue that’s affecting the Philippine diaspora in the United States is Trump’s crackdown on immigration — covering persons of Filipino roots, those who have dual citizenship, and even Filipinos who are permanent residents or have valid work permits.
Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which includes much of the US President’s tax and spending policies, includes a remittance excise tax.
What else isn’t helping people-to-people ties? The shutdown of USAID — through which crucial services were once delivered to the most vulnerable of Filipinos. The impact of its shutdown has been devastating worldwide. – Rappler.com
