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President Donald Trump has invited Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to the White House "to discuss the importance of the United States-Philippines alliance," according to a White House readout of the leaders' phone call on Saturday.

"It was a very friendly conversation, in which the two leaders discussed the concerns of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regarding regional security, including the threat posed by North Korea," said the readout. "They also discussed the fact that the Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world."

The readout continued, "President Trump enjoyed the conversation and said that he is looking forward to visiting the Philippines in November to participate in the East Asia Summit and the U.S.-ASEAN Summit."

Duterte is a controversial and polarizing leader with a deadly and ruthless reputation. Since taking office last year, he has been outspoken in his support of extrajudicial killings of thousands of citizens accused of dealing or using drugs. His crackdown on suspected drug dealers and users has left nearly 2,800 people dead purportedly in gunbattles with police. Another 6,000 deaths are being investigated.

Duterte often raises eyebrows by making incendiary comments.

Last September, for example, he compared the Holocaust to his campaign to kill criminals.

"Hitler massacred three million Jews," he incorrectly stated (in fact, 6 million Jews were killed). "Now, there are 3 million drug addicts [in the Philippines] ... I'd be happy to slaughter them."

And last year, after then-President Barack Obama criticized Duterte's drug-fighting methods, the Philippine leader lashed out in a press conference, saying, "Mr. Obama, you can go to hell ... I am the president of a sovereign country, and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people. Son of a b----, I will swear at you," Duterte said.

He has been more effusive about Trump, though.

At a press conference in Qatar earlier this month, Duterte compared himself to Trump, praising him as "a realistic and a pragmatic thinker."

Duterte spoke positively about Trump's desire to stop the illegal drug trade. "Look at his inaugural speech," Duterte said. "He will stop drugs ... We're not different. He will really kill you."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Donald Trumpplans to strip all funding from a State Department bureau that promotes the rights of women around the world, it has emerged.

Oxfam America led criticism of the move, saying said cutting funds for the Office of Global Womens Issues would have dire consequences for millions of people, as well as our global standing.

Documents first leaked to Foreign Policy showed plans to reduce the offices 2016 budget of $8.25 million (6.43 million) to zero in 2018, though the Presidents budget will still have to make it past Congress.

Its clear that womens empowerment and gender equality are on the chopping block in this budget, Oxfam vice president for policy, Paul OBrien, said.

The offices work had been championed by defeated presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during her time as Secretary of State under Barack Obama.

Oxfams intervention came as Mr Trump tweeted he was proud of his daughter Ivanka for her leadership on womens empowerment.

On Tuesday Ms Trump told an audience in Germany, where she shared a stage with Chancellor Angela Merkel, she was really striving to think about how best to empower women in the economy, both domestically and across the globe.

She also defended her fathers treatment of women and said the thousands he had employed in the Trump Organisation were a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man.

Mr OBrien added: Talk is cheap when you dont fund the efforts you tout.

Congress must stand against this reckless move to walk away from one of Americas proudest and smartest investments.

At less than a penny of every federal budget dollar, these vital programmes are wise investments that ensure girls are able to go to school, small business owners can contribute to the local economy, and millions of small farmers are able to produce enough crops to prevent hunger.

Instead of building on these investments and ongoing real reforms, this administration is proposing devastating cuts that will have dire consequences for millions of people, as well as our global standing, national security interests, and the values central to Americas identity.

Now is not the time to cut back on development, but to build on progress to make it even more effective.

Musimbi Kanyoro, the president and chief executive of the Global Fund for Women, told The Independent: This proposed budget cut sends an alarming signal about the primacy the US government accords to womens human rights around the world.

In previous years, we saw this office help drive meaningful progress and position the US as a champion for womens rights worldwide.

It took a leadership stance on womens rights, amplified the voices of grassroots womens leaders, and enacted important policies like the US global strategy to empower adolescent girls, which carried the potential to ensure more girls globally are educated, healthy, and free from violence.

An action like this de-prioritises women and girls and holds the threat that we will actually see global womens rights recede rather than advance under the watch of this administration."

The President is seeking savings to pay for a proposed $54 billion (42 billion) increase in funding for the US military, which he said had been depleted over a number of years.

In January Mr Trump was criticised for reinstating the Mexico City Policy, a block on federal funds going to non-governmental organisations that help provide abortion services for women overseas, through an executive order.

Marie Stopes International, an NGO that lobbies in favour of abortion and provides a variety of family planning services in both the UK and abroad, warned women in developing countries would pay the price for the shift.

That month, millions of women held marches around the world to protest Mr Trump. The hundreds of demonstrations followed Mr Trump's derogatory remarks about Fox News host Megyn Kelly after a presidential debate, and a recording of him boasting of famous men being able to grab women by the pussy.

The leaked budget documents show the President also intends to strip funding from a series of other soft-power and scientific programmes within the State Department including slashing two-thirds of the Bureau for Food Security's resources, and 95 per cent of funds for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

The $2.5 million budget for USAID's work with blind children is also set to disappear, according to the documents. USAID is the agency that administers American foreign aid.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

The State Department referred to previous statements it had made. An official said: Later this spring, the President will release the full FY 2018 budget request with more details on specific funding and programmes requested for the State Department and USAID, along with other Executive Branch agencies.

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As he neared the end of his first 100 days in office, President Donald Trump touted his first three months as a rousing success.

"No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days," Trump told an audience in Kenosha, Wis.

Thats a pretty high bar, especially for an administration that has registered historically low levels of support in public-approval polls for presidents this early in their terms.

The White House didnt respond to an inquiry for this article, but when asked about some of the presidents 100-day accomplishments during the April 19 press briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer cited a series of executive orders, including some on regulatory reform; a drop in border crossings; and job creation. He said more details would be offered as the 100-day mark approached.

We interviewed historians and considered the 100-day track records of presidents back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. While theres a lot of nuance in gauging accomplishments, Trump doesnt have much evidence to back up his boast that his administration has accomplished the most.

First, some caveats

All presidencies are different, and theres an especially big difference between those that began after an election and those that got their start suddenly. The latter category includes presidents who took over after the death of their predecessor (such as Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson) or their predecessors resignation (Gerald Ford).

In addition, its easier for a president to put points on the board quickly if they enter office in the midst of a national crisis. This was true for Roosevelt (the Great Depression), Truman (the end of World War II), Ford (the Watergate scandal), and Barack Obama (the Great Recession). Without a crisis, Congress is less likely to act quickly.

Perhaps most notably, there is widespread agreement among historians that the 100-day standard is arbitrary. Just because a president signs a significant law outside the 100-day window doesnt make it less of an accomplishment.

For instance, Johnson and Ronald Reagan "laid the groundwork for gigantic accomplishments" such as on civil rights and taxes, respectively, that fell outside the 100-day window, said Princeton University historian Sean Wilentz.

And both Truman and Dwight Eisenhower were preoccupied with wars during their first 100 days, said Max J. Skidmore, a University of Missouri-Kansas City political scientist who has written several books on the presidency. This meant they "did not have much in the way of legislative achievements during that period," Skidmore said.

All in all, "most presidents have not considered 100 days a significant milepost," said H.W. Brands, a presidential historian at the University of Texas-Austin whose books include Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "It's largely a media thing."

The numbers

Lets start with the raw numbers, Our friends at the Washington Post Fact Checker did some calculations comparing Trumps bill-signing output to that of his predecessors during their first 100 days.

The Post counted 28 bills signed by Trump -- the highest since 1949, but well below the 76 signed by Roosevelt in 1933. Moreover, many of Trumps bills were "minor or housekeeping bills," and none met a longstanding political-science standard for "major bills." By contrast, at least nine of Roosevelts did.

Meanwhile, by the time of the Kenosha speech, Trump had signed 24 executive orders, 22 presidential memorandums, and 20 proclamations, the Post noted.

Some of these started the ball rolling to overturn federal regulations. While these may eventually have a significant impact, its worth noting that many new presidents routinely issue orders during their first 100 days that overturn actions of their predecessors of the opposite party.

For instance, just two days after taking office, President Bill Clinton signed orders overturning restrictions on abortion imposed during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and with equal speed, President George W. Bush overturned Clintons opposition to a ban on aid to international groups that participate in abortions.

"Everyone does that, so it doesnt give him a comparative edge," said David Greenberg, a Rutgers University historian who has written books about Presidents Richard Nixon and Calvin Coolidge.

Trumps accomplishments

Historians we checked with mostly agreed that Trumps appointment of Neil Gorsuch to fill a Supreme Court vacancy was a significant event, and one that could influence public policy long after Trump leaves the White House.

That said, some cautioned against making too much of Gorsuchs confirmation, arguing that it followed the nearly year-long blockage of Obama nominee Merrick Garland by the Republican Senate. "It was really (Senate Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell's achievement," said Jeff Shesol, author of books on Roosevelt and Johnson and a former speechwriter for Clinton.

Meanwhile, Trumps military actions -- his missile strikes on Syria and the dropping of an unusually large bomb on an ISIS bunker -- are hardly unprecedented for a presidents first 100 days. George W. Bush attacked Iraqi radar sites to enforce a no-fly zone, and Obama pledged to double the number of U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.

Trumps decision to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement echoes George W. Bushs decision to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming. And the Trump administrations successful effort to win the release of Aya Hijazi, an American aid worker jailed for three years in Egypt on dubious charges, isnt unprecedented either. Moments after taking office in 1981, Ronald Reagan announced the imminent freeing of American hostages held in Iran for over a year.

Several historians said Trump has faced some significant setbacks as well. His first big legislative push -- to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act -- stalled without even a final vote, and he has been slower than his predecessors in making sub-cabinet appointments. Trump also failed to submit a detailed budget proposal of the kind his predecessors had typically submitted by now.

Then theres Trumps immigration ban, which would likely count as a major accomplishment if its enacted, but which is frozen for now. It was issued, blocked by the courts, rewritten, and then blocked again.

"The fact that he has gotten so little done while having Republican majorities in both houses of Congress is a terrible indictment," Shesol said.

The champion: FDR

The 100-day record of just one president -- Franklin Roosevelt -- would be enough to cast doubt on the accuracy of Trumps claim that no administration has accomplished more.

The 15 major bills Roosevelt signed included those that created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Tennessee Valley Authority (both of which still exist) and the Home Owners Loan Corp. He signed the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which established farm subsidies, and the National Industrial Recovery Act, which started public-works efforts to reverse the Great Depression. He signed legislation to legalize the manufacture and sale of beer and wine, and he issued executive orders to establish the Civilian Conservation Corps and to effectively take the United States off the gold standard.

All in all, Roosevelt pushed the federal government to take a much bigger role than it had previously, said Adam Cohen, author of Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America.

"When FDR took office, the banking system had collapsed," Cohen said. "His emergency banking act got the banks open again and the system up and running. He got the Securities Act of 1933 enacted. It was the first major federal regulation of the stock market, which laid the groundwork for the kind of government regulation we now take for granted."

Other presidents 100-day achievements

Other presidents have chalked up significant achievements as well.

Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, while Obama signed not only a nearly $800 billion stimulus package to combat a spiraling recession but also the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and a law expanding the Childrens Health Insurance Program. He also implemented two urgent economic programs formally passed in the final weeks of George W. Bushs presidency -- the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the auto industry bailout.

Other presidents have taken executive actions at least as significant as Trumps. Kennedy established the Peace Corps (later ratified by Congress). Ford, meanwhile, pardoned his predecessor, Nixon, and offered amnesty to Vietnam War draft dodgers.

Trumans first 100 days were a whirlwind of foreign-policy actions -- the end of World War II in Europe, the writing of the United Nations charter, the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan, and Japans unconditional surrender.

Sometimes, a presidents biggest accomplishment is intangible. Roosevelt calmed a nation gut-punched by the Depression, while Johnson reassured Americans after the shock of Kennedys assassination.

"The main accomplishment of LBJ's first 100 days -- and this should not be discounted just because it did not involve a bunch of bill signings -- was to give the nation and its government a sense of stability and continuity after one of the most wrenching events of the century," said his biographer, Shesol.

Evaluating Trumps 100 days

One of the biggest impacts of Trumps first 100 days may fall into this "intangible" category.

"Even if there are not many major tangible accomplishments, his administration has changed the political and cultural trajectory of the country -- not as much as FDR did following Herbert Hoover, but more than the average new president does," Cohen said. "It has been somewhat amorphous and hard to quantify, but it is certainly something many Americans are feeling."

John Frendreis, a political scientist at Loyola University in Chicago, said Trumps 100 days seem most similar to Clintons, which were also disorganized, short of focus and marked by the failure to pass an economic stimulus package. That said, he added, "it is instructive to note that Clintons presidency turned out to be reasonably successful after this rocky start, so this suggests a similar turn-around is possible for Trump."

Whatever happens down the road, Trump, like his predecessors, is getting a dose of reality, Brands said.

"The big story of Trump's 100 days is how much reality has intruded on his notions of what a president can accomplish," he said. "Every newcomer to the White House is sobered by the experience. Trump had more sobering to do to most."

Our ruling

Trump said, "No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days."

Trump has had some achievements in office, but at the very least, they are much less numerous and far-reaching than those of Roosevelt, the standard against whom all presidents are measured. In more recent years, other presidents, including Obama, have accomplished more in their first 100 days than Trump has, historians say. We rate the claim False.

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2017-04-24 12:45:13 UTC

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"No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days."

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New York Times

France, Russia, Donald Trump: Your Monday Briefing New York Times ... In France, blue-collar voters could determine if Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate, upends expectations in the presidential runoff on Sunday. Ms. Le Pen has capitalized on their disenchantment with pledges to impose intelligent protectionism. and more »

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France, Russia, Donald Trump: Your Monday Briefing - New York Times

The White House spent last week fending off unflattering critiques of Trump's first three months in the Oval Office, claiming he had racked up great achievements while also dismissing what it sees as an artificial milestone.

But the experience of the first 100 days has shown the enormity of the challenge Trump faces in enacting his proposed policies amid partisan acrimony in Washington, where Democratic opposition is determined to thwart him and Republican infighting persists.

The looming political fights of the next three months will test whether Trump has learned from his mistakes in the first 100 days and can find a way to exert his will over Congress.

Abroad, the President faces several deepening crises, most immediately the showdown with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.

The next 100 days will also see him venture overseas for the first time as President, and may begin to reveal exactly what he means when he talks about an "America First" foreign policy. Meanwhile, the world is watching to see whether Trump pulls America out of the Paris climate accord -- a decision that is expected within the next several weeks.

Trump geared up for the next chapter of his presidency on Saturday night, surrounding himself with adoring supporters in Pennsylvania, and conjuring up the spirit and fury of his 2016 election campaign, by bashing Washington elites and the media.

"Their priorities are not my priorities and not your priorities," Trump told the crowd in Harrisburg. "If the media's job is to be honest and tell the truth, the media deserves a very, very big fat failing grade."

The remarks were a clear sign that the President intends to leverage the support of his loyal political base against the Washington establishment in an effort to kickstart his stalled agenda. There does not seem to be any imminent plan being developed to reach out to his critics and broaden his appeal.

The President's most immediate problem is over Obamacare: He must find a way to pilot the repeal bill, which remains in limbo, neither alive, nor dead, through the House of Representatives. The failure to realize his number one campaign promise during the first 100 days dealt a humiliating blow to Trump and raised questions about his presidential authority.

The White House has repeatedly predicted in recent days that a vote on the legislation is imminent, but continued wrangling between conservatives and Republican moderates on the bill is delaying its passage.

But the House vote will only be the first hurdle for the bill, with the Senate expected to fundamentally change the legislation which Trump says must cut premiums and broaden access, but which a Congressional Budget Office report found would deprive millions of people of coverage. And even if the White House can record a political win by passing the bill, Trump will likely be saddled with the blame if Americans come to believe that the new disruption in the health care industry costs them money or access to insurance.

The health care fight has revealed an unexpected characteristic of Trump's Washington. Primary opposition to the President has not come from Democrats, who were expected to form a road block to the White House, but from his own party. And unless Trump can find a way to mobilize the Republican monopoly on power on Capitol Hill, the next 100 days could be as barren as his first 100 in terms of significant legislation.

"I think the rules in Congress, and in particular the rules in the Senate, are unbelievably archaic and slow-moving and, in many cases, unfair," Trump said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."

"In many cases, you're forced to make deals that are not the deal you'd make. You'd make a much different kind of a deal. You're forced into situations that you hate to be forced into."

Still, House Speaker Paul Ryan is insisting that despite a turbulent and unproductive start, Republicans will come together to pass Trump's agenda.

"I talked about 200 days because I thought the kind of agenda that we're attempting to put together here -- overhauling health care, overhauling the tax system, rebuilding our military, securing the border -- those take more than just a few months," Ryan told reporters last week.

"They take a long time, at least a year."

While the White House has struggled to sell and pass the health care bill, the tax reform effort could be even more complicated. The administration rolled out an outline of a plan last week, which includes large tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and will use the next few months to sell it to the American people.

Winning public support for the bill will be one thing. Getting it passed will be even more complex because Trump will have to woo some Democrats to navigate the measure through the Senate, and there is no sign Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's troops are ready to help the President get a win.

If Democrats refuse to cooperate, the White House could seek to pass the bill with a simple majority in a maneuver known as reconciliation. That route brings an added complication, because any legislation passed in this manner must not add to the deficit. Vice President Mike Pence admitted on Sunday that "maybe in the short term" the tax reform bill will increase the deficit but argued that there was no alternative to stimulating economic growth.

"The truth is, if we don't get this economy growing at 3 percent or more, as the president believes that we can, we're never going to meet the obligations that we've made today," Pence said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The White House's ability to manage Congress will also be tested as work starts on Trump's 2018 budget, which includes large cuts to the State Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and foreign aid -- some of which are likely to stir opposition even inside Trump's own party.

The President also faces a challenge in the coming months in securing funding for his border wall, amid opposition from some Republicans in states affected by the project. Some conservatives may also balk at spending billions of dollars to pay for a campaign promise that Trump vowed would be financed by Mexico.

The President, however, is refusing to back down on the need for a wall, that formed a symbolic foundation for his presidential campaign and is highly popular with his political base.

"We'll build the wall, folks," Trump said in Harrisburg. "Don't even worry about it. Go to sleep. Go home, go to sleep, rest assured."

Trump's challenges abroad over the next 100 days are dominated by the sharpening confrontation with North Korea. The period will likely reveal whether his strategy for containing the threat from Pyongyang based on pressuring China to rein in its ally will work in the medium term.

Trump has warmly praised China's President Xi Jinping for upping pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But in the past, Beijing has shown that there are limits to the steps it will take to constrain Pyongyang. Another nuclear test by North Korea, which could come at any time, would likely further escalate the crisis.

The President will not travel to Asia until the fall, on a trip likely to be consumed by the North Korea showdown. But first, and within the next 100 days, he will travel to Europe, which is still trying to size up the new US President following derogatory comments about the European Union and NATO during his campaign that rattled America's allies.

The President is due to attend the NATO summit in Brussels next month.

To the relief of key European powers, Trump has stepped back from his anti-NATO rhetoric, but is still certain to demand that alliance members do more to share the financial burdens of their own defense.

Trump will also travel to Italy for the G7 summit, where his protectionist rhetoric will mark a sea change for the rich nations club which has traditionally backed free trade. Trump's moves to roll back environmental regulations introduced by the Obama administration to tackle global warming have also alarmed European governments, one reason why his decision on the Paris agreement is so keenly awaited.

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Donald Trump's next 100 days - CNN