Japan PM in NY for meeting with Trump
Associated Press
NEW YORK
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he believes Donald Trump is a leader in whom he can have great confidence after meeting with the president-elect Thursday.
Abe, who became the first world leader to meet with Trump since his election, was seeking reassurances over the future of U.S.-Japan security and trade relations.
He described the meeting as “really, really cordial” but offered few details of their discussion.
Abe said the meeting renewed his conviction that he would be able to establish a relationship of confidence with Trump.
Abe met with Trump in New York, where the incoming president is working on setting up an administration. The Trump transition team provided no readout of the meeting.
Trump’s campaign rhetoric caused consternation in many world capitals, including Tokyo. He has said he would demand that allies such as Japan and South Korea contribute more to the cost of basing U.S. troops in their countries.
Such comments have worried Japan at a time when the threat from North Korea is rising, and China is challenging the U.S.-led security status quo in the Pacific.