Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on November 17 he was confident of building trust with Donald Trump following a meeting in which he sought clarity on campaign rhetoric from the US president-elect that cast doubt on long-standing US alliances.
After the hastily arranged 90-minute meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Abe called Trump a trustworthy leader, although he said he would not disclose details of the conversation because the talks were unofficial.
The Republican president-elect will succeed Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20.
"The talks made me feel sure that we can build a relationship of trust," Abe told reporters. Describing his conversation as "candid" and held in a "warm atmosphere," Abe said: "Alliances cannot function without trust. I am now confident that President-elect Trump is a trustworthy leader."
He said he had agreed to meet again with Trump "at a convenient time to cover a wider area in greater depth." It was not clear if such a meeting would occur before Trump's inauguration.
Reuters