Attack casts shadow on Asia trip
Trump addresses tragedy in Texas, talks trade with Japan
TOKYO — President Donald Trump began his second day in Japan amid a shadow of a tragedy back home.
Trump on Monday called the
Texas church shooting that claimed at least 26 lives “an act of evil,” denounced the violence in “a place of sacred worship” and pledged the full support of the federal government. He said that in a time of grief, “Americans will do what we do best: we pull together and join hands and lock arms and through the tears and sadness we stand strong.”
He then shifted back to his message to a group of American and Japanese business leaders: The United States was open for business, but he wanted to reshape the nations’ trade relationship.
“For the last many decades, Japan has been winning” the trade relationship, Trump said. “The U.S. has suffered massive trade deficits with Japan for many years.”
He rebuked the current relationship, saying the trade deals were “not fair and not open.”
Trump downplayed the potentially contentious nature of the talks, though the Japanese government has not shown much appetite for striking a new bilateral trade agreement. Tokyo had pushed to preserve the Trans- Pacific Partnership, which Trump has abandoned.
“We’ll have to negotiate that out, and it’ll be a very friendly negotiation,” Trump said, suggesting it would be done “quickly” and “easily.”
North Korea is the critical issue looming over Trump’s 12-day, five-country trip that will include direct talks with Trump’s Chinese and Russian counterparts.