US Has A New Enemy? Philippines President Duterte Calls Americans 'Fools' And 'Monkeys' After Washington Cancels Arms Sales

Here’s what Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte thinks about some decision makers in the United States: They’re “fools” and “monkeys,” he said Wednesday.

Those comments came in response to a U.S. decision not to send the country 26,000 promised rifles. Duterte, who has gone on similar tirades recently, said he may turn to either Russia or China to help them get new weapons.

“Look at these monkeys, the 26,000 firearms we wanted to buy, they don’t want to sell,” Duterte said, according to Reuters, during a televised speech. “Son of a bitch, we have many home-made guns here. These Americans are fools.”

The United States decided against sending the firearms after the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Maryland’s Ben Cardin, said he was reluctant for the U.S. to make the sale. Citing human rights violations and concerns, Cardin said he was worried about the bloody, four-month-old war on drugs Duterte began that has seen more than 2,500 people killed by police operations.

The United States State Department, which oversees overseas weapons sales, made the decision not to move forward on the weapons sales after being notified of Cardin’s intentions. State Department spokesman John Kirby did not comment on the status of the sale Tuesday, however, and said the U.S. is committed to its alliance with the Philippines.

Duterte’s war on drugs began on July 1 and has brought a death rate of about 38 people a day. Police, according to onlookers, chase after suspects and then gun them down. Police accounts contradict those of witnesses.

The elected mayor of Datu Saudi-Apatuan, Samsudin Dimaukom, was gunned down in October with other people in his convoy during conflict with police at a checkpoint after police reportedly got a tip the group was going to bring a large amount of methamphetamine to the district.