A president nicknamed “the Punisher” who is responsible for a brutal “war on drugs” that so far has killed over 7,000 people has been cordially invited to the White House.

President Donald Trump on Saturday told Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte to visit Washington, during a call that the White House described as “a very friendly conversation.”

The invitation further signals Trump’s willingness to praise and publicly associate with illiberal world leaders. Along with Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Duterte is the latest leader accused of widespread human rights abuses and authoritarian tendencies who Trump has embraced in recent weeks.

Duterte drew worldwide attention during last year’s Philippine election for his vows to violently crack down on crime and repeated inflammatory remarks, which included saying he wanted to participate in a gang rape and calling Pope Francis a “son of a whore.”

Western media often referred to Duterte as the Donald Trump of the Philippines because of his populist rhetoric and outsider persona. Duterte last year dismissed the comparison, saying that Trump is a bigot while he is not. Although Duterte’s rise is unique and different from Trump’s in numerous ways, both did come to power in 2016 appealing to voters who were opposed to establishment politics.

But while Trump’s administration has struggled to implement the major policy changes he vowed as a candidate, Duterte has fulfilled many of the grim promises of his campaign. In less that a year, at least 7,000 people have died in Duterte’s “drug war.” Many of the killings are carried out extrajudicially by vigilantes who Duterte has encouraged to kill drug dealers and users.