President-elect Donald Trump is set to have his first face-to-face meeting with another world leader today when he meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump Tower, marking the first test of Trump's resolve to stand by caustic campaign rhetoric that left many world leaders questioning his foreign policy agenda.
Before departing for New York, Abe told reporters that the U.S.-Japanese alliance "only works based on trust," signaling that he will looking for reassurances from the president-elect that he will remain committed to the relationship. Abe also said he is "honored" to be the first world leader to meet with Trump.
Trump made alarming statements about the alliance during his campaign, including suggestions that Japan procure nuclear weapons and defend itself, rather than burden the United States with the cost of stationing tens of thousands of American military personnel on its soil.
"I would rather have them not armed, but I'm not going to continue to lose this tremendous amount of money," Trump said during a Wisconsin campaign rally in April. "And frankly, the case could be made that ... let them protect themselves against North Korea. They'd probably wipe 'em out pretty quick."
Trump said it would a "terrible thing" if Japan and North Korea fought, "but if they do, they do!"
North Korea has conducted two nuclear test this year and two months ago produced its largest explosion ever, detonating a bomb that analysts detected had a yield equivalent to 10 kilotons of TNT.
Japan's pacifist constitution was created in partnership with occupying forces after World War II and as a result it's security posture relies heavily on U.S. deterrence. That U.S. military footprint in Japan serves as an equal deterrent to nuclear-armed North Korea and to a rapidly growing Chinese military.
In addition, Japan pays considerable sums (it budgets $4 billion annually, according to The Wall Street Journal) to host over 50,000 American troops and their 40,000 dependents, whose presence, particularly at the Marine base in Okinawa, has become a heated political issue for local residents.
And on the same day of Abe's visit, Trump is also getting heat from an American congressman of Japanese decent who was angered by statements made by a Trump surrogate last night.
Rep. Mark Takano, D-California, called on Trump to disavow remarks by a surrogate on Fox News last night who sought to justify Trump's controversial plans to single out Muslim immigrants by equating them with the Japanese internment camps of World War II.
"We've done it with Iran, back a while ago, we did it during World War II with the Japanese," retired Navy SEAL and Trump author Carl Higbie told Fox News' Megyn Kelly. "Look, the president needs to protect America first. And if that means having people that are not protected under our Constitution have some sort of registry so we can understand, until we can identify the true threat and where it's coming from, I support it."
“The imprisonment of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II, including my parents and grandparents, is widely understood to be one of the darkest chapters in American history," Takano said in a statement, calling on Trump to denounce the comments.
“These comments confirm many Americans’ worst fears about the Trump administration, and they reflect an alarming resurgence of racism and xenophobia in our political discourse," Takano added.
Trump has also accused Japan of manipulating its currency to gain an economic advantage and listed it along with China and Mexico during a Republican debate as a country where “we are getting absolutely crushed on trade.”
Abe may be looking to soften Trump's opinions on these issues, as well as the Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that Abe supports but Trump has said he does not.
from ABC News: Politics http://ift.tt/2g0iJt5
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