White House chief of staff Reince Priebus Reinhold (Reince) Richard PriebusLeaked audio shows Trump touted low Black voter turnout in 2016: report Meadows joins White House facing reelection challenges Trump names Mark Meadows as new chief of staff MORE on Sunday defended President Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE’s phone call with President Rodrigo Duterte, arguing cooperation with the Philippines is necessary to counter North Korea.

“The purpose of the call is all about North Korea,” Priebus told ABC’s “This Week.”

Priebus insisted that communication with Duterte is necessary, despite human rights abuse accusations against the Philippine leader.

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Priebus noted the airstrikes Trump ordered earlier this month in Syria when discussing the president’s human rights record.

“It doesn’t mean that human rights don’t matter,” Priebus said, when asked by host Jonathan Karl.

Trump’s chief of staff noted that he did not sit through the entire call between Trump and Duterte, but said North Korean aggression is “so serious that we need cooperation at some level with as many partners in the area as we can get to make sure that we have our ducks in a row.”

The United States has been ramping up its discussions with regional partners as tensions mount with North Korea. Pyongyang this month conducted two failed ballistic missile tests.