Vientiane, Laos(CNN) President Barack Obama exchanged "pleasantries" with his Philippines counterpart on Wednesday following an ugly outburst earlier this week that led to a cancellation of formal talks between the two leaders.
Obama said at a news conference Thursday that he told Rodrigo Duterte during the exchange that he wanted to move past the episode.
"It was not a long interaction, and what I indicated to him is that my team should be meeting with his and determine how we can move forward on a range of issues," Obama said.
A White House official said that Obama had a "brief discussion" with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ahead of a gala dinner in the Lao capital marking the beginning of the yearly ASEAN summit.
The meeting took place in a holding space for leaders, the official said, adding the "exchange consisted of pleasantries between the two."
Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
Speaking at a business forum in Manila in December 2016, Duterte admitted killing suspected criminals during his time as mayor of Davao City.
The day after Trump won the US presidential election in November 2016, Duterte said he and Trump share some traits.
After reports emerged of a potentially blocked arms sale, Duterte told CNN Philippines in November 2016 that he would turn to Russia for weapons.
During a state visit to China in October 2016, Duterte announced his economic and military 'separation' from the US.
In October 2016 Duterte expressed growing hostility with the US president.
After US president Barack Obama said he would raise extrajudicial killings in a meeting with Duterte, the Philippines President responded angrily on September 5, first in English then in Tagalog. As a result, Obama canceled the meeting.
As he addressed troops at the country's Armed Forces Central Command Headquarters on August 5, Duterte recounted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to the country, saying in Tagalog that he was feuding with U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.
The Philippines president-elect effectively said he supported vigilantism against drug dealers and criminals in a nationally televised speech in June 2016.
Foreign diplomats weighing in on Rodrigo Duterte's controversial remarks did not sit well with the then-mayor.
Duterte apologized to the Pope after cursing him for the traffic he caused during a 2015 Papal visit to the Philippines.
In September 2016, Duterte likened himself to the Nazi leader and announced that he wants to kill millions of drug addicts.
Speaking at a press conference to unveil his new cabinet on May 31 2016, Rodrigo Duterte said journalists killed on the job in the Philippines were often corrupt.
During the third and last presidential debate, Duterte had said that he would plant a Philippine flag in disputed territories should China refuse to recognize a favorable ruling for the Philippines.
Duterte made international headlines in April 2016 with his inflammatory comments on the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary that took place in Davao City.
He also lashed out at the womens' group that filed a complaint against him before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
At a CNN Philippines Townhall event in February 2016, Duterte, admitted that he had three girlfriends and a common-law wife. His marriage to Elizabeth Zimmerman was annulled due to his womanizing, but he denied this meant he objectified women.
Although he later denied the accusations, the former Davao City mayor admitted his links to the alleged Davao death squad in a May 2015 broadcast of his local television talk show.
Duterte was likely keen to clear the air after publicly scoffing earlier this week at suggestions that Obama would raise the issue of extrajudicial killings during their planned meeting.
"Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people," he proclaimed before traveling to Laos for the summit.
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In his rant, Duterte also declared, "Son of a bitch, I will swear at you," though he later claimed that remark was directed at a journalist and not at Obama.
Obama said during his news conference that he didn't take the insult personally.
"It seems as if this is a phrase he's used repeatedly, including directed at the Pope and others," Obama said. "So, I think it seems to be just, you know, a habit."
The White House said the remarks weren't constructive and prompted called off the meeting, which had been slated for Tuesday.
"I think it was our judgment that given the focus and attention on President Duterte's comments leading into the meetings here we felt that didn't create a constructive environment for a bilateral meeting," Obama's Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said during a briefing in Vientiane, Laos, on Tuesday.
Rhodes insisted the US-Philippines alliance remained "rock solid."
After the meeting was canceled, Duterte expressed regret for his outburst, saying in a statement through his spokesman that he regretted "it came across as a personal attack on the US President."
"We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions," the statement released on Tuesday read.
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