Trump, Japan’s Abe share a high-five

President, first lady host dinners, golf games in Florida.

President Donald Trump has long boasted about his prowess on the golf course. Now he’s putting his game to work.

Trump spent a good part of his Saturday golfing with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he hosted a foreign leader at his winter estate in Palm Beach, Fla., for the first time in his presidency

After a rocky diplomatic start that included contentious phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia, Trump’s friendly weekend of meetings, dinners and golf with Abe suggests the he is willing to invest time in developing close personal relationships with leaders he feels he can work with.

Trump and Abe, both frequent golfers, left Mar-a-Lago early Saturday and headed north to one of Trump’s golf courses in Jupiter, Fla. Reporters and photographers from both countries did not catch a glimpse of the pair as they played. But Trump later posted a photo of them giving each other a high-five on the golf course and tweeted, “Having a great time hosting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the United States!”

The Trump National Golf Club website says the course “features the finest revetted bunkers in the United States, incredible water hazards, including a magnificent island green, and one of the most picturesque landscapes, all of which make for a truly memorable round.”

Trump and Abe also paid a visit to another nearby Trump property: The Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

Abe had joked at a joint press conference at the White House on Friday that he was looking forward to playing golf with Trump, even though, he said, he’s not nearly as good on the links.

He said he planned to use the time with Trump to discuss the future of the world, the Pacific region and U.S.-Japanese relations.

In a sign of unity, neither Japanese nor White House officials volunteered the pair’s final score.

The White House issued a statement saying the day was “both relaxing and productive.”

As their husbands golfed, Melania Trump and Akie Abe toured the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in nearby Delray Beach. It was Melania Trump’s first solo event as first lady.

The two couples touched down in Florida on Friday afternoon and headed straight to Trump’s Mara-Lago Club, where they enjoyed a late dinner at its crowded patio restaurant. They were joined by Robert Kraft, the owner of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, and several interpreters. Paying members and club guests took in the scene and mingled with Trump and Abe into the night. The president and first lady planned to host a more formal delegation dinner with the Abes on Saturday night. Trump also was expected to tend to other business in Florida: calling Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos as he continues conversations with foreign leaders.

Trump and Abe appear to have hit it off early, despite Trump’s sometimes hostile rhetoric toward Japan on the campaign trail. Abe was the only world leader to meet with Trump before his inauguration, and Trump welcomed Abe to the White House on Friday with a hug.

As a candidate, Trump often railed against former President Barack Obama for his frequent golfing, claiming Obama played more often than players on the PGA Tour. He said if he won he’d likely be too busy to golf and would only play with people with whom he was looking to make deals.

Trump and Abe have plenty to discuss, including the defense treaty between the nations and their trade relations. One of Trump’s first actions as president was to withdraw the U.S. from a 12-nation trans-Pacific trade agreement that was negotiated by the Obama administration and strongly supported by Tokyo. Abe has said that Japan may be open to a bilateral trade deal with the U.S., but reaching such a deal could be politically difficult. Japan logged the second-largest trade surplus with the U.S. last year.