Mr Tusk made the trip to Manila to celebrate 40 years of co-operation between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and attended commemorative summit led by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.
The visit comes with relations between Manila and Brussels at a low point after Mr Duterte launched a four-letter tirade against the EU for criticism of his ruthless drug war.
The policy has seen police kill at least 3,850 people since he took office 16 months ago and led rights groups to warn of a potential crimes against humanity.
But, unlike Mr Trump before him, Mr Tusk did bring up the issues of human rights and the rule of law in his opening speech to the summit.
After thanking Mr Duterte for inviting the EU to attend the meeting as a guest he said: “The European Union fully supports ASEAN’s efforts and its mission.
“We are working towards a strategic partnership to encompass not only trade, investment and sectoral co-operation but also more security co-operation.
“The new ASEAN-EU plan of action contributes to this goal.
“We remain committed to a strong and cohesive ASEAN developing in its own character, in the best interest of regional prosperity, stability and security.
“Further enhancing our relations based on common interests and shared values of democracy, human rights, and rule of law is a priority for the EU.”
Mr Duterte responded by sauying the “EU occupies a special place in the ASEAN’s external relations”.
He said: “Our increasing people-oriented, people-centred agenda drives ASEAN-EU cooperation on the bulk of long-standing historical and commercial ties.”
But his tone was very different a month ago when he threatened to kick 24 European ambassadors out of the Philippines and told the EU it could to “go to Hell” if it refused to accept his explanation for the alleged extrajudicial killings blamed on his drugs crackdown.
He accused Brussels of interfering in the Philippines’ domestic affairs and accused it of trying to get the country expelled from the United Nations.
He said: “Son of a whore go ahead. You give us money then you start to orchestrate what things should be done and which should not happen in our country. You b*******. We are past the colonisation stage. Don’t f*** with us.”