Good luck, America

Later today is the inauguration of returning president of the United States Donald Trump in Washington. Manila is about 13 hours ahead of Washington time. Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez, our Philippine ambassador to the US, hosted a reception ahead of Trump’s inauguration. Romualdez disclosed the embassy reception held in the federal capital brought together “representatives from the incoming administration, the US Congress, Trump campaign and transition teams, donors and media.”

In his X posts over the weekend, Romualdez further stated he looks forward to working again with the Trump administration “…from the White House to Congress, with faces old and new, for the next four years in order to bring Phl-US relations to even greater heights.”

Romualdez first served as our Philippine ambassador to the US during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte in July 2017. He went back to his Washington posting after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) appointed him again in July 2022.

Meanwhile, the American counterpart ambassador of Romualdez here in the Philippines, MaryKay Carlson, paid us a visit at the new editorial office of The Philippine STAR building in Parañaque City. STAR president and chief executive officer Miguel G. Belmonte welcomed Carlson to our two-building complex located at the Amvel Business Park on A. Santos Avenue, Bgy. San Dionisio.

Accompanied by US embassy Manila official spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay, we had a combination of off-the-record and open conversations about our country’s bilateral relations with the US. Naturally, Carlson gave us an overview of the Trump inaugural.

As the transition at the White House is taking shape, our country’s close alliance with the US somehow got into the picture. At the confirmation process of Trump Cabinet nominees before the US Congress, Florida senator and secretary of state-designate Marco Rubio addressed the presence of Chinese Coast Guard’s “monster ship” in Philippine waters. Another Trump nominee, Department of Defense secretary-designate, ex-Fox News Channel host Peter Hegseth, could not tell the exact number (it’s 10) of member-states in the regional bloc ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations where Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines have overlapping claims with China in the South China Sea.

Trump’s warm relations with ex-president Duterte during their previous stint together have lately being played up in social media posts. Cashing in on the “friendship” with Trump, rumors spread that ex-president Duterte was invited to the inaugural rites but which ignored PBBM.

As earlier announced by Romualdez, Carlson reaffirmed that no heads of government are invited to the Trump inaugural. Carlson likewise doused cold water on the purported invitation to ex-president Duterte. Asked about such claims, Carlson told us she has not personally seen or read such online posts.

“There’s simply no truth to the report that an invitation has been extended to the former president…” Carlson remarked. “On the former president, there is no invitation... It’s simply not true,” she swore.

“But my good friend and colleague, Babe Romualdez, will be leading the delegation for the Philippines,” she confirmed.

“That’s not to say there might not be a head of state or two that will go to the inauguration this year. And some of them will, maybe, be invited through congressional invitations, or through private sector invitations,” Carlson hastily added.

Indeed true, because then president-elect Trump sent an official invitation a month ago to President Xi Jinping of China. But the Chinese leader is sending his Vice President Han Zheng as his special representative. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump himself bared in his own social media post his hotline telephone talks with President Xi.

Shared on X, Trump’s posts from Truth Social revealed: “I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the USA. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing trade, fentanyl, TikTok and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the world more peaceful and safe!”

“Fentanyl?” Was that a subliminal memory of ex-president Duterte?

Suffering from motorycle riding-related accidents, Mr. Duterte confessed having once almost getting addicted to this highly potent synthetic opioid painkiller. From the website of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), an overdose or intoxication of fentanyl can be deadly. Notably, “China Town” is one of the street names of fentanyl in the US DEA list.

Other foreign leaders have reportedly spoken about being invited to Trump’s inauguration, including Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni; President Javier Milei of Argentina; Ecuador President Daniel Naboa and President Santiago Peña of Paraguay, according to an Associated Press dispatch.

“That certainly there are people going to the inauguration at the invitation of others, including leaders from certain countries that are going, at the invitation of Congress,” Carlson clarified.

However, she pointed to difficulties to get hotel rooms in Washington with such a huge event coming up. “You can’t sit down and have the kind of conversation or meaningful discussions that you would hope to have,” she stressed.

“So that’s why it has not been tradition for us to invite heads of state or senior officials because it’s just… it’s a time for Americans to celebrate our electoral process. It’s not a time for wheeling and dealing on, you know, trade or other issues,” she explained. “I’m not saying that there couldn’t be some work done on the margins. But it’ll just be a challenging time to do that, right?” she rhetorically asked.

Latest reports from Washington have it that the Trump inaugural organizers will move the ceremony indoors due to the very cold weather. Memories are still fresh when Mr. Trump nearly got killed in a foiled assassination attempt while on his presidential campaign last year.

While President Trump starts his second run to promote his Make America Great Again, PBBM will do his own Bagong Pilipinas with the 47th US President in the latter’s second half in office at Malacañang Palace. Good luck, America and Pilipinas.