President Donald Trump welcomed Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe to the White House Friday, before the two men headed off to Palm Beach County for the weekend.
For Abe, the visit was the second with Trump since the election. Abe met with Trump shortly after the election in Manhattan.
“We are going to keep our country safe. We will not allow [terrorism] to happen.”
For Trump, it was the second visit at the White House from a head of state.
Trump told reporters in the East Room that the relationship between the U.S. and Japan is a “cornerstone of peace and stability in the Pacific region.”
Trump also promised to pursue trade talks that are “free, fair, and reciprocal.”
Abe talked up his friendship with the United States and Trump, and noted he visited Pearl Harbor last year.
Abe also said his name is pronounced differently than that of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, but he doesn’t mind the confusion. Lincoln’s rise to the presidency from humble beginnings is an inspiring tale in Japan, Abe said.
Trump was asked by a reporter from the New York Post and then Fox Business about Thursday night’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that suspended his temporary travel ad refugee restrictions.
“We are going to keep our country safe,” said Trump. “We will not allow [terrorism] to happen.”
Abe was asked about Trump’s decision to pull out of the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement, but he side-stepped commenting on U.S. policy.
Trump has repeatedly said he favors bilateral trade agreements — not multilateral treaties.
For Trump, the meeting will likely be seen as a huge success. Abe indicated he wants to see Japan invest more in the United States.
And the tone of the visit seemed even friendlier than when Trump hosted United Kingdom’s leader, Prime Minister Theresa May, shortly after he was sworn in on Jan. 20.
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