Trump had warm words for Japan’s Sanae Takaichi, whom he is meeting in Tokyo tomorrow only a week after she became prime minister of the key U.S. ally.
Sanae Takaichi on Oct. 4. Kim Kyung-Hoon / Getty Images
Takaichi, 64, a hard-line conservative and the first female prime minister of Japan, was a protege of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was close with Trump.
“I hear phenomenal things,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One today en route from Malaysia to Japan. “She was a great ally and friend of Shinzo Abe, who was my friend.”
“I know they were very close and I think philosophically they were close, which is good,” he added. “That really helps Japan and the United States, I think she’s going to be great.”
Takaichi, who had a phone call with Trump over the weekend while he was flying to Asia, told reporters she “received very warm congratulatory remarks” and that she told Trump that strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance was her top diplomatic and security priority.
She said she praised Trump for brokering the recent Gaza ceasefire, while emphasizing that Japan “is a very important country for the United States for its strategy towards China” and the broader region.
“I thought he was a very cheerful and fun person,” Takaichi said. “He also recognized me well, and while sharing memories of Prime Minister Abe, he mentioned that he knew I was a politician whom Prime Minister Abe had really looked after.”
She said she also thanked Trump for the “great kindness” he has shown Abe’s wife, Akie Abe, whom Trump is expected to see while in Japan.