Trump's World-Leader Buddy Is Starting to Regret It

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wooed the new American president harder than anyone. But his bet on Trump is not looking so hot today.

By WILLIAM PESEK April 01, 2018

TOKYO — Japan’s Shinzo Abe probably embraced Donald Trump faster, and with more warmth, than any other foreign leader after the reality TV star shocked the world with his upset victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Now, he’s having buyer’s remorse.

On March 25, the Japanese prime minister lunched with Barack Obama in Tokyo, setting off warm reminiscences of their “sushi summits” in the local press. For Abe, the reunion was the political equivalent of comfort food.

The 14 months since Trump stomped into the White House have been a different kind of raw for the Japanese establishment—and increasingly unappetizing for a government that prizes strong U.S. ties above any other relationship.

Dating back to the 1980s, Trump was among America’s most vocal Japan critics. In 1989, the real estate mogul said Japan “systematically sucked the blood out of America” and called for a 20 percent tariff on all its goods. On the campaign trail, candidate Trump called for Japan to pay more for Washington’s security blanket—saying “we can't afford to do it anymore”—and raised the specter of Tokyo developing its own nuclear weapons.

When Trump defeated Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8, 2016, Abe’s government was as shocked as any. In fact, when Abe had visited New York 50 days earlier, then-frontrunner Clinton was his first port of call. Trump Tower, just a few blocks away, didn’t make the cut. But priorities changed rapidly. Just nine days after the billionaire trumped Clinton, Abe became the first world leader to visit Trump Tower—and for what may end up being the biggest blunder of his premiership.

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https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/01/japan-shinzo-abe-trump-world-217767