Palace on Trump mispronouncing Duterte’s name: ‘No slight taken’

U.S. President Donald Trump toasts with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte during the gala dinner marking ASEAN’s 50th anniversary in Manila, Philippines, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. (Athit Perawongmetha/Pool photo via AP)

Malacañang on Thursday shrugged off the mispronunciation of United States President Donald Trump of President Rodrigo Duterte’s name during a White House press briefing.

During the briefing, Trump pronounced Duterte as “Duarte” in a video tweeted by the Department of State.

“During our visit, President Duarte of the Philippines thanked the American people and our armed forces for supporting the recent liberation of Marawi from ISIS,” he told reporters.

Sought for comment, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said it did not take offense with Trump’s mispronunciation.

“No slight taken, you know. I think that’s another commonality between the two Presidents, they’ve made mistakes in names,” he said.

It was not the first time Trump mispronounced a word.

In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), he mispronounced the name of the country Namibia as “Nambia.”

Roque said Trump and Duterte have both made mistakes in pronouncing names of people.

In his previous speeches Duterte has repeatedly pronounced the surname of terrorist Isnilon Hapilon as “Hapsilon.” /je