Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. is “very close” to locking in a big trade deal with the Philippines, during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit to the White House. The Filipino leader made the trip in a last-minute attempt to stop new U.S. tariffs from going into effect by August 1. The White House meeting included lunch and a closed-door discussion where Trump said, “We’ll probably agree to something,” but also warned that Marcos was “a very tough negotiator.” “They’re a very important nation militarily,” Trump said, stressing that trade and “war and peace” were both on the table. Marcos is the latest in a string of foreign leaders to fly in hoping to avoid Washington’s escalating tariff decisions . Trump recently bumped the planned import levy on the Philippines from 17% to 20%, which set off alarms in Manila. Marcos pushes for trade relief and military ties Before sitting down with Trump, Marcos met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday. Those talks focused on military cooperation and regional strategy. The Philippines has been a long-time ally, and Marcos leaned hard on that fact, reminding Washington of their shared past and joint missions. He isn’t walking in Duterte’s footsteps either. Where his predecessor leaned into China, Marcos has flipped the script. He’s opened more military bases to the U.S., hosted large-scale joint drills, and gave the green light for a U.S. missile system deployment. All of this as China continues to clash with Philippine forces in the South China Sea and tensions rise near Taiwan. Trump, meanwhile, was casual about any balancing act Marcos might have to play between Washington and Beijing. “I don’t mind if he gets along with China, because we’re getting along with China very well,” he said. “He has to do what’s right for his country. I’ve always said, make the Philippines great again.” Marcos defended his stance, saying he follows an “independent” foreign policy. His mission in D.C., though, was clear. Before leaving Manila, he publicly said that he’d tell Trump the Philippines is ready to negotiate a bilateral trade deal to soften the impact of what he called a “very severe tariff schedule.” U.S.-Philippines economic talks intensify before Aug. 1 Trump also threw in personal notes, calling the Marcos family “highly respected in this country” and noting his fondness for Imelda Marcos, the former Philippine first lady. But there was no sign that nostalgia would stop the economic hit. U.S. government data shows America had a $4.9 billion trade deficit with the Philippines last year, with total trade sitting at $23.5 billion. The Philippines sent trade officials ahead of Marcos’s arrival to begin tariff talks with their U.S. counterparts. But the gap in expectations is still wide. While Trump has mentioned that countries like Vietnam and Indonesia have offered zero tariffs, the Philippines said it can’t afford that. Local businesses would be crushed, they warned. Instead, Marcos’s team offered to import more U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans and frozen meat. In return, they hope to boost exports of semiconductors, coconuts, and mango products—items the U.S. market already buys in significant volumes. Even close allies are feeling the squeeze. Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Año told Rubio that defense and economic security are tied together. A senior analyst at the Crisis Group, Georgi Engelbrecht, said the new tariff move “may have provided Manila with a dose of realism that even the Philippines may not be exempt from a degree of unpredictability and transactionalism from the U.S.” Marcos didn’t pretend that trust alone would carry the day. “The cultural memory of all Filipinos, down to even schoolchildren, is that our strongest, closest, most reliable ally has always been the United States,” he said, but that loyalty has now collided with reality. Trump didn’t let the moment pass without a punchline. “I’ve always said, make the Philippines great again,” he told reporters. Cryptopolitan Academy: Tired of market swings? Learn how DeFi can help you build steady passive income. Register Now