Donald Trump is sworn in as president by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on a Bible held by Melania Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. Saul Loeb, Pool/Getty Images/AFP MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday congratulated his US counterpart Donald Trump on taking office, saying he looked forward to “working closely” with the new US administration.  

“Congratulations to POTUS @realdonaldtrump and to the American people on another peaceful transfer of power in their Nation’s nearly 250-year history. I look forward to working closely with you and your Administration,” Marcos told Trump on X.

“The strong and lasting PH-US alliance will continue to uphold our shared vision of prosperity and security in the region,” he added. 

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Before Trump assumed office, Marcos this month said he was hopeful Manila and Washington would maintain their "strong and dynamic" relationship under the new US administration.

The United States has a decades-old security alliance with the Philippines that includes a mutual defense treaty and a 2014 pact which allows the US military to store equipment on nine Philippine bases.

Manila has stepped up security cooperation with Washington to blunt China's efforts to control most of the disputed South China Sea.

While Trump underscored in his inauguration speech that the US will retake the Panama Canal from the control of China, the US chief executive was noticeably silent on how it plans to address Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway where trillions of sea-borne goods pass through annually.

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While heads of states are not traditionally invited to the inauguration of a US president, Trump made an exception for several world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping,  Argentinian President Javier and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, among other far-right political figures.

Xi did not attend the inauguration and instead sent Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, while the Philippines was represented by Filipino Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.

Under the previous Biden administration, the US provided $500 million in military funding to the Philippines as Washington sought to boost ties with Manila amid its maritime tensions with Beijing. 

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Before ending her term earlier this month, former US Vice President Kamala Harris told Marcos Jr. that there was bipartisan support for the US to continue its close relationship with the Philippines.

— With a report from Agence France-Presse