WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Donald Trump has threatened the Philippines with tariffs after the arrest of Rodrigo Duterte.
OUR VERDICT
False. The statements attributed to the US president have been fabricated.
AAP FACTCHECK - Fabricated news reports say US President Donald Trump is threatening tariffs against the Philippines after the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
There is no evidence that the US president has threatened tariffs against the Philippines, and the reports are fake.
Duterte was arrested by Philippine police in Manila's main airport on March 11, 2025, and flown to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands to face murder charges linked to the deadly "war on drugs " he oversaw while in office.
A Facebook post in Australia shares comments purportedly made by Trump and directed at current Philippine President Bongbong Marcos following his predecessor's arrest.
The post claims the comments are "via BBC news".
"BREAKING: Trump Speaks Out on Duterte's Arrest," the caption said.
It purported to "quote" Trump as saying: "Look, Duterte's a strong guy, no doubt about it - he's got guts, folks, really incredible.
"But now they've got him in The Hague, and let me tell you, if the Marcos administration doesn't handle this right, I'm going to be looking at some serious tariffs - 50% on everything. Nobody does tariffs better than me, folks. Believe me, nobody."
The post includes an image of Trump with another overlaid quote attributed to him that reiterates the US will supposedly introduce "50 per cent tariffs" on the Philippines if it doesn't "bring back Duterte".
Another Facebook post included an image of Trump beneath a Washington Post logo with a statement attributed to the president threatening sanctions on the Philippines following Duterte's arrest.
"I, and the United States will not allow any of our allies and friends to suffer, and we will impose sanctions against the Marcos Administration for the unlawful act they did," Trump supposedly said.
Another version includes an apparent letter from Trump to President Marcos posted beneath a New York Times banner. The letter threatens that the US "alongside Russia and China, will intervene as long as our good friend [Duterte] is at stake".
However, neither the BBC, Washington Post nor the New York Times has published these statements, which appear to be fabricated.
Trump and Duterte met in 2017 during the US president's first term, and he reportedly praised Duterte's crackdown on drug users and traffickers.
Trump has also been a critic of the ICC and, in February 2025, imposed sanctions on the court and those assisting its actions against US and Israeli citizens.
However, the most recent comments attributed to Trump regarding Duterte's arrest are fabricated.
AAP FactCheck was unable to find them on any news websites or social media pages.
Trump also doesn't appear to have made any statements regarding Duterte's arrest to date.
There's no record of Trump making these statements in the Whitehouse archives or in records of the president's briefings and statements or remarks.
Nor has the US president made a statement regarding Duterte on his social media accounts since the former Philippine president's arrest.
The posts have also been debunked by Lead Stories and Philippines' websites Philstar.com, Rappler and Vera Files.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked a claim about US tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium exports.
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