Obama had been scheduled to meet Phlippines President on Tuesday on sidelines of a summit in Laos.
Highlights
- President Obama cancelled a planned meeting with Philippines President
- Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte called Obama a "son of a w****"
- Obama instead will meet with President of the Republic of Korea
US President Barack Obama cancelled a planned meeting with Rodrigo Duterte, the White House said on Monday, after the Philippines leader launched a foul-mouthed tirade against him.
Duterte called Obama a "son of a w****" hours earlier, vowing he would not allow the American leader to lecture him on human rights.
"President Obama will not be holding a bilateral meeting with President Duterte of the Philippines this afternoon," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said.
"Instead, he will meet with President Park (Geun-hye) of the Republic of Korea this afternoon."
The acid-tongued Duterte bristled at warnings he would face questioning by the US president over a war against drugs in the Philippines that has claimed more than 2,400 lives in just over two months.
"You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a w****, I will curse you in that forum," Duterte told a news conference shortly before flying to Laos to attend a summit.
"We will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that to me."
The pair had been due to hold a bilateral meeting late on Tuesday on the sidelines of a gathering of global leaders hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vientiane, the Laotian capital.