Trump Congratulated Philippines President Duterte On Murderous Drug War That's Left Thousands Dead

Welcome to WHAT NOW, a morning round-up of the news/fresh horrors that await you today.

President Donald Trump congratulated Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on his bloody crusade against drugs in the country, with Trump telling Duterte he’s done an “unbelievable” job waging a drug war that has claimed at least 9,000 lives.

“I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem,” Trump said, according to a confidential transcript of the April call that was obtained and published by The Intercept. “Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”

Trump went on to criticize former President Obama, whom Duterte infamously told to “go to hell,” for not understanding the Philippines president’s murderous crackdown on drugs in the country, which has left thousands of small-time dealers and users dead, often in middle-of-the-night, vigilante-style killings.

Duterte was accused of running a death squad before he was elected to the presidency and has threatened to personally kill anyone involved in the drug trade.

And then, overnight, Duterte declared martial law in the Southern part of the country.

You can read the full transcript of their call here, via The Intercept.

WHAT ELSE?

• British Prime Minister Theresa May has deployed armed military to key locations around the country after an attack on a concert in Manchester left 22 people dead.
• Trump—joined by Ivanka, Jared Kushner, and a coterie of White House aides who have blocked me on Twitter—met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The Pope didn’t look so happy!

WHAT’S NEXT?

• Trump is visiting the NATO headquarters in Brussel, which he once branded a “hellhole,” today.