Philippines' Marcos says discussed alliance in call with Trump

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said he had a "very friendly" phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday and expressed his desire to strengthen the alliance between the countries.

The phone call with Trump was "very friendly" and "very productive", Marcos told reporters during a visit to Catanduanes island, which was hit by a super typhoon on Saturday.

"We talked about... the alliance between the United States and the Philippines. And I expressed to him our continuing desire to strengthen that relationship between our two countries, which is a relationship that is as deep as can possibly be because it has been for a very long time."

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Manila and Washington are long-standing treaty allies and their relationship has deepened since Marcos took office in 2022 and began standing up to China's claims over the South China Sea.

Marcos joined other world leaders in publicly congratulating Trump on his victory in the US presidential election this month, as they sought to get onside with the next administration.

Marcos added that he thought Trump was "happy to hear from the Philippines".

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