On Monday, President Trump told a gathering of Japanese officials at a state banquet that after he won last year's election, he was amazed to find out how many countries existed in the world.
Trump began his speech by extolling the virtues of golf diplomacy and talking at length about a U.S. Open tournament in 1980 in which Japanese golfer Isao Aoki and American Jack Nicklaus put on "one of the greatest putting displays anyone has ever seen." Trump then recounted the beginnings of his relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which he said "got off to quite a rocky start."
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