In Japan, Trump to try to put human face on NKorean menace
TOKYO — President Donald Trump opened his second day in Japan by pushing for stronger, more equitable economic ties between the allies, yet his message in Asia threatened to be overshadowed by a tragic shooting 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 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 contentious nature of the negotiations, 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 will have more trade than anybody ever thought under TPP. That I can tell you,” Trump said. He said the multinational agreement was not the right deal for the United States, and while “probably some of you in this room disagree ... ultimately I’ll be proven to be right.”
Trump and his wife, Melania, then paid a formal state call on Japan’s Emperor Akihito and his wife, Empress Michiko, at the Imperial Palace, which is set amid manicured pines and deciduous trees bursting with color in a park oasis at the heart of the bustling city.
The president nodded at the emperor and shook hands as he arrived. The Trumps were then ushered into a receiving room where they spoke to the imperial family with help from translators. Reporters were unable to hear the conversation.
Later Monday, Trump will highlight the specter of North Korea and try to put a human face on its menace, hearing from anguished families of Japanese citizens snatched by Pyongyang’s agents. The White House hopes the meeting will elevate these heart-wrenching tales of loss to the international stage to help pressure North Korea to end its provocative behavior toward American allies in the region.
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.
In Washington, a new analysis emerged from the Pentagon saying that a ground invasion of North Korea is the only way to locate and destroy, with complete certainty, all components of Kim’s nuclear weapons program.
“It is the most bleak assessment,” said U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Two members of Congress had asked the Pentagon about casualty assessments in a possible conflict with North Korea. A rear admiral on the Joint Staff responded on behalf of the Defense Department, and said the amount of casualties would differ depending on the advance warning and the ability of U.S. and South Korea forces to counter North Korean attacks.
Abe welcomed Trump on Sunday with an effusive display of friendship that now gives way to high-stakes diplomacy. The leaders, who have struck up an unlikely but easy rapport, played nine holes at the Kasumigaseki Country Club and, giving Trump a taste of home, ate hamburgers made with American beef.