Trump invites Philippines President Duterte to White House

United States President Donald Trump has invited his Philippines counterpart Rodrigo Duterte to the White House in a phone call, that also addressed regional security in Southeast Asia and the Philippines' drug war.

Citing the White House statement, CNN reported that Trump and President Duterte had a "friendly discussion" on Saturday that also addressed regional security in Southeast Asia and the Philippines' drug war.

Trump has invited Duterte to discuss the US-Philippines alliance.

However, the White House gave no details on when or if Duterte would visit the U.S. but said that Trump is looking forward to visit Philippines in November to attend an East Asia summit that Duterte will host with several world leaders.

"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 official statement said.

Duterte had earlier urged the U.S. to be patient and practice restraint towards North Korea saying that the two sides are "playing with their dangerous toys".