President-elect Donald Trump's team reportedly gave Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's team a word of advice ahead of their meeting slated for Thursday, Abe adviser Katsuyuki Kawai told Reuters: Don't "take each word that Mr. Trump said publicly literally."
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump suggested Japan obtain its own nuclear weapons and repeatedly criticized the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Now, Reuters reported, Trump's team seems to be assuming a less combative tone. Earlier this week, a Trump adviser reportedly applauded Abe's "assertive and forthright" efforts to change Japan's "global posture." "I think he's going to get a very receptive audience here," the adviser reportedly said of Abe.
Trump's meeting with Abe on Thursday will mark his first with a foreign leader as president-elect.
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.