Press. voanews.com
Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe arrives late Thursday in Washington, a day before he becomes the
second foreign leader to officially meet with President Donald Trump. Abe,
eager to get off on a good footing with then president-elect Trump, flew to New
York City to meet him in November, shortly after the businessman's surprise
election victory.
Due to deeply
intertwined military and trade ties, Japan has no choice but to pursue a good
rapport with whomever is president of the United States, according to senior
government officials in Tokyo. But the Japanese have been deeply unsettled by
Trump's previous rhetoric and its impact on East Asia.
During the
campaign, the Republican candidate called for America's allies to pay more of
the share for hosting U.S. bases, and commented that perhaps it would not be so
bad for Japan to have its own nuclear deterrent. A visit to Japan by Defense
Secretary Jim Mattis last week was meant to drive home the message that the
United States, which protects the island nation with its nuclear arsenal and
the 54,000 troops stationed there, will still have Tokyo's back.
“You're going to
hear similar messages from the president,” a senior administration official
said in response to a VOA News question during a telephone background briefing
for reporters. And the president's words and actions, he added, “will go a long
way to dispelling any doubts that may still remain” in the region about the
U.S. commitment to its defense alliances with Japan and South Korea. The
Trump-Abe meeting Friday will cover a wide range of other issues, especially
trade.
Japan to
announce investment package
Abe is being
accompanied by what Japanese officials tell VOA is a delegation unprecedented
in size and scope. Trump, who as president has relished a series of high-profile
job creation announcements alongside corporate leaders, is expected to stand
next to Abe at a news conference Friday for a similar announcement.
Abe is set to
reveal a $150 billion five-part investment package in U.S. infrastructure
touted to eventually create 700,000 jobs. This comes after the Japanese viewed
the Trump administration's abandonment of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific
Partnership as a severe setback for international trade growth.
Abe expended
significant political capital, especially with the influential agricultural
sector, to bring his country into the landmark trade pact.
Trump “believes
that bilateral agreements are really the way to go for the United States,” the
senior U.S. official said, explaining the president believes he can find terms
more favorable for the United States in such an agreement rather than in a
multilateral agreement where “you're held to the standard of the weakest link.”
The United
States and Japan together represent about 30 percent of global economic output.
Pursuit of a
possible new, direct trade compact between the two countries is also expected
to be discussed when the two leaders golf together Saturday at the president's
resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The invitation,
the first offered a foreign leader to a property owned by the Trump family, has
raised questions about a possible conflict of interest. “The visit to
Mar-a-Lago is a personal gift,” from the president to the prime minister, the
senior administration official told reporters.
A White House
spokesperson emphasized that Abe and his delegation will not actually stay at
the historic estate purchased by Trump in 1985. After becoming president, Trump
signed documents to step aside from leadership roles in his companies, turning
over control to his sons. But questions persist about the interpretation of the
Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits a president
benefiting from foreign leaders.
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