President Donald Trump welcomed Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the White House Tuesday, as the two countries seek closer security and economic ties in the face of shifting geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region. Marcos, who met Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, is the first Southeast Asian leader to hold talks with Trump in his second term. As the two leaders sat in the Oval Office in front of reporters on Tuesday, Trump said they would be talking about “war and peace” and trade. "We’re very close to finishing a trade deal, big trade deal, actually," Trump said. Marcos spoke warmly of the relationship between their two nations and said, “This has evolved into as important a relationship as is possible to have." When asked by a reporter how he plans to balance his country's relationships between the U.S. and China, Marcos said there was no need to balance “because our foreign policy is an independent one." “Our strongest partner has always been the United States," he said. Marcos' three-day visit shows the importance of the alliance between the treaty partners at a time when China is increasingly assertive in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing have clashed over the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal. Washington sees Beijing, the world’s No. 2 economy, as its biggest competitor, and consecutive presidential administrations have sought to shift U.S. military and economic focus to the Asia-Pacific in a bid to counter China. Trump, like others before him, has been distracted by efforts to broker peace in a range of conflicts, from Ukraine to Gaza. Tariffs also are expected to be on the agenda. Trump has threatened to impose 20% tariffs on Filipino goods on Aug. 1 unless the two sides can strike a deal.