WASHINGTON — U.S. president-elect Donald Trump will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York on Thursday, according to Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, following reports that the logistics of the talks had not been fixed until the last minute.
Abe will be the first foreign leader to hold face-to-face talks with Trump since the billionaire’s election victory on Nov. 8.
The meeting at Trump Tower around 5 p.m. will be an informal affair, Conway told broadcaster CBS, noting that Barack Obama is still president and currently on his last foreign trip.
“Any deeper policy conversations” between the leaders would have to wait until after Trump’s inauguration in January, she said.
During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly said Japan must pay the United States more for its protection. The U.S. has many thousands of troops stationed in Japan.
Trump also suggested that Japan may want to pursue the acquisition of nuclear weapons, a deeply sensitive issue in Japan, which is the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack.
