Donald Trump has made a lot of phone calls since being elected president, but Thursday will mark his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader since winning the White House. Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, plans to meet with Trump in New York to try to feel out how serious Trump's campaign promises regarding his country have been.
During the election, for example, Trump heavily criticized the U.S. for defending Japan, as it has been legally required to do. Trump has also suggested America's Asian allies develop their own nuclear arsenals, and Abe will likely remind Trump that Japan is committed to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, The New York Times reports. Abe might also broach the subject of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, with Trump having heavily disparaged the agreement during his campaign.
Additionally, "Mr. Abe may ... seek to soften Mr. Trump's angry campaign stance, in which he accused Japan of crushing the United States on trade, and manipulating its currency to gain an economic advantage," The New York Times reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As for the logistics of the meeting itself, things have proceeded chaotically. Japanese officials said that by Thursday morning the meeting location had still not been finalized, nor had the time of the meeting, who would be invited to it, or even who to get in touch with to find out the answers to such questions. Both Japan and U.S. officials said that the State Department had not been involved in preparations.
"There has been a lot of confusion," a Japanese official admitted to Reuters.
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacyFeature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
