Japan’s leader Abe heads to New York to meet Trump

The source had earlier said the meeting would take place on Sunday.

“We were able to have a very candid talk over a substantial amount of time”.

“If you travel to the USA you should let me know”, Trump told British Prime Minister Theresa May in an unusually casual pseudo-invitation that raised eyebrows in London, according to a leaked transcript reported by the Guardian.

Officials in Japan and the US said on Wednesday that the US State Department had not been involved in planning the meeting, which meant that matters of logistics and protocol were not bolted down beforehand.

Trump also rolled out new teams that will interact with the State Department, Pentagon, Justice Department and other national security agencies.

The meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes, according to a Trump official, was the president-elect’s first face-to-face conversation with a foreign leader since his election on November 8.

Mr Trump has also said Japan needs to pay more to maintain USA troops on its soil, and has floated the idea that Japan and South Korea should develop their own nuclear weapons to counter the threat from North Korean missiles.

After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the United States directed the writing of a pacifist constitution that kept the country dependent on USA power for its defense.

“I believe it is enough”, Ms. Inada said last Friday, according to Japan Today.

“We are very sensitive to the fact that President Obama is still in office for the next two months, and we won’t be making diplomatic agreements today”, she told reporters as she entered the building.

The United States is Japan’s most important ally, and is legally obligated to defend it against attack. We go to war right away.

“Japan is better if it protects itself against this maniac of North Korea”, Trump told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in March.

“OK, but if we’re attacked Japan doesn’t have to do anything”.

But a phone call on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which the two men agreed to aim for “constructive cooperation”, raised eyebrows among Democrats and traditionalist Republicans anxious about a resurgent Moscow.

Some diplomats say that until Trump makes key appointments, it will be hard to assess his policies on foreign relations issues ranging from overseas deployments of USA troops, China’s maritime aggressiveness in Asia and the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.

Japan does not own any nuclear weapons.

Trump’s blithe comment during the campaign that the United States might be “better off” with nuclear-armed Asian allies has thrown into question the U.S. security umbrella over Japan and South Korea.

Particularly jaw-dropping were the suggestions that Japan, which until a year ago had a pacifist constitution, should obtain nuclear weapons to protect itself from North Korea. We defend South Korea.

The location would offer more seclusion and comes amid complaints by New Yorkers about the congestion in front of Trump Tower on bustling Fifth Avenue.

Although initial reports were that Vice President-elect Mike Pence would also be present at the meeting, that has not been confirmed and, in fact, the in governor arrived at Trump Tower only a few minutes before it ended.

Some have speculated that the road ahead might not be so rocky for Japan.

Abe had been expected to press the president-elect on how much of his bluster was campaign rhetoric or actual policy.

A Trump adviser who spoke earlier in the week, however, stressed a more positive view and credited Abe with making changes.

The meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan, was meant to smooth relations following Mr Trump’s campaign rhetoric that cast doubt on the US-Japan security alliance in the Asia-Pacific region. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!’ “Also, I have spoken to many foreign leaders”. “Pragmatism on both sides is going to make their relationship somewhat productive”, he said.

Abe will be meeting Trump, en-route to Peru for the annual Asia=Pacific trade summit.

This year has heralded some huge breakthroughs for Japan and its relationship with Russian Federation.

Mr Abe is Japan’s most powerful leader in a decade and he has invested political capital in overcoming strong domestic opposition to the TPP.