I do not know about the Philippines. The US military controlled Okinawa up until 1972, and even then was not very hype about "giving it back" (Okinawa's history

I do not know about the Philippines. The US military controlled Okinawa up until 1972, and even then was not very hype about "giving it back" (Okinawa's history mirrors Hawaii, so reversion to Japan was not necessarily the "correct" end state, bit it was a popular one at the time). I think the reality is that so long as these territories are not states, I think most Americans are "fine", and barely even register that this is happening. I think even the status of places like Puerto Rico (US citizens since 1917!) has only fairly recently been understood by most Americans compared to 20 years ago. Things are nuanced and not totally black and white, and with the Philippines it does feel like the ball was rolling so strongly that any colonial ambitions would be hard to establish. But Guam was also taken at the same time and is still a territory! Places small enough to be permanent military bases are likely good candidates for permanent colonialisation by the US gov't.