President Donald Trump flies to Asia, with Japan his first stop.
President begins 12-day tour of five nations
President Donald Trump flew to Asia on Saturday, with Japan the first stop on an Asian tour devoted to talks about trade and North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
Trump boarded Air Force One early in the day in Hawaii, where he had stopped to tour the Pearl Harbor battle memorial and received a briefing from military leaders at the U.S. Pacific Command.
“Thank you to our GREAT Military/ Veterans and @PacificCommand,” Trump tweeted. “Remember #PearlHarbor. Remember the @USSArizona! A day I’ll never forget.”
President Trump touched down in Japan on Sunday morning — Saturday night in the United States — to start a tour of Asia devoted mostly to arguments about trade and worries about North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Behind the scenes, however, Japanese leaders wonder about Trump’s harsh criticism of U.S. trade deals with other countries, and worry about getting caught in the middle if tensions with North Korea lead to military conflict, maybe even with nuclear weapons.
“There is an underlying element of anxiety in Japan,” said Michael J. Green, senior vice president for Asia and Japan chairman with the Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies.
After a couple of days in Japan, Trump plans to emphasize trade and North Korea nukes during visits to Seoul and Beijing. He wraps up the trip by attending economic conferences in Vietnam and the Philippines.
Trump is using the trip in part to push Asian countries to pressure North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons. Most of that effort is focused on China, which is North Korea’s neighbor and leading economic patron.
While Trump plans to focus on North Korea, he and aides will be watching to see whether regime leader Kim Jong Un tries to grab the world’s attention with some kind of nuclear test during the trip. In February, Kim fired a missile over Japan as Abe and Trump met at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
In terms of trade, Japan is looking for the way forward after Trump began his administration by killing off the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Pacific Rim trade deal in which Japan would have been a key player.
The Trump administration has talked about a bilateral trade agreement with Japan. Abe is in a strong domestic political situation as he welcomes Trump to Japan, having racked up wins in recent parliamentary elections.
Trump, meanwhile, faces intense political opposition at home, as well as investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia as it sought to influence the 2016 presidential election.