Trump tells the White House Ishiba that he wants to reduce the US trade deficit with Japan – the Associated Press.

Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump On Friday that it wants to reduce US trade deficit with Japan as it welcomes the Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the White House for their first meeting face to face.

Trump added that he did not accept the opportunity to impose tariffs against Japan from the table, but believes that the issue can be resolved without criminal action. The United States has a trade deficit of $ 68 billion with Japan.

“I think it will be very easy for Japan,” Trump said at the beginning of his meeting at an oval office with a scib. “We have a fantastic relationship. I don’t think we’ll have a problem. They also want justice. “

Trump has announced that the Japanese Nippon Steel has dropped the acquisition of $ 14.1 billion on US steel, headquartered in Pittsburgh and will instead make an “investment rather than a purchase”. Trump said he would “mediate and arbitrate” as companies negotiate the investment. The US President mistakenly cited Nippon Steel as “Nissan”, the Japanese carmaker.

President Joe Biden before leaving office last month, blocks the purchasequoting fears of national security. Trump in December said “entirely against the once great and powerful American steel that is bought by a foreign company.” Trump told reporters on Friday that remains against The Japanese company buys American steel straight.

Trump’s pressing to reduce the trade deficit comes as he has pursued tariffs And friends and enemies In an attempt to strengthen US production.

Ishiba, who made a whirlwind trip to Washington to face Trump, said he realized that Trump’s goal was a mutually beneficial commercial policy.

But the Prime Minister also noted that Japanese companies have occupied the first place for cumulative foreign direct investment in the United States over the last five years. He added that Japan seeks to invest more in the United States.

Ishiba also boasted Trump, saying he was inspired by the “incapable presence” of a bloody Trump, who pumps his fist after experiencing an attempt to kill the campaign rally in July. Ishiba added that many in Japan were also excited about his return to the White House.

“He is not only among politicians but also among the general public, as well as business leaders,” Ishiba said. “There are many who eagerly awaited your return.”

He also said he was excited before he came to Washington to meet a television celebrity like Trump. Ishiba told Trump that “on television he is scary,” but during their meeting with the Oval Office, the president was actually “very sincere.” He added that he did not come to “suck” the president.

The couple discussed their shared security concerns about North Korea and Trump said they would work to restore relations with this country’s leader Kim Jong Un.

“I got along very well with him,” Trump said about his relationship with Kim during his first term. Trump said he believes the relationship had stopped war and that many other countries support both of them under heart conditions.

Trump had a series of meetings with Kim during his first term and boasts of making progress in relationships that have been frosty for decades. But North Korea continued to build its nuclear program and test rockets then, both countries did not restore diplomatic relations.

Trump also said at his press conference with Japan’s prime minister that he wanted to see that some FBI agents were fired while the Ministry of Justice was reviewing how the agency examined the investigations against the United States attack by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.

“I will fire some of them because some of them were corrupt,” Trump said. He added, “This will happen fast and very surgical.”

Before the Friday meeting, Ishiba made a lot of legs to prepare.

He huddled this week with SoftBank Executive Director Masayoshi and OpenAi CEO Sam Altman, recently two leaders Trump Trump recently Host in the White HouseS He sought advice from his immediate predecessor, Fumio KishidaS

Ishiba even called on Shinzo Abe’s widow, the Japanese Prime Minister, with whom Trump contacted golf circles in his first term.

“I would like to focus on building a personal relationship of trust between the two of us,” Ishiba told reporters before heading to Washington.

Reproducing Abe’s relations with the President of the United States is a high order. Abe resigned as Prime Minister in 2020. and it was Weapon While giving a speech to the campaign in 2022, Ishiba, however, prioritizes to contact Trump.

Ishiba, who took office in October, is only the second world leader to visit the White House during Trump’s new term. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week Trump’s first hostS

Ishiba arrived on Thursday night for his 24-hour visit to Washington.

The quick trip was essential for Ishiba, as it seems to ensure that the US and Japan remain on a solid support with Trump’s return and his America First. Both sides were challenged by the growing China Economic and Military Confidence in the Pacific Ocean and concerns about nuclear armed North KoreaS

“I think that Prime Minister Ishiba certainly sees that this is an important and critical opportunity for him to restore what was exceptional links between President Trump and Japan in the first Trump administration,” said Senator Bill Hagerti, Republican in Tennessee, who serves as a Trump ambassador to Japan during his first administration.

Abe was one of the few world leaders who developed a relationship with Trump during his first term. Trump said the murder of Abe for July 2022 was a difficult time for him.

Trump and Abe have built their rapprochement over circles of golf and dinners with their wives in President Palm Beach, Florida, Resort, Mara-Lago. During the Trump state visit in 2019 in Japan, Abe brought Trump to Sumo match by wrestling And he arranged to be the first leader to meet the newly emerged emperor of Japan.

“Shinzo was my great friend,” Trump said. “I couldn’t feel more more when it happened to him at a terrible event. But he was also your friend and he had great respect for you. ”

Abe and Trump’s close relationships were even more remarkable, as Trump at the beginning of his first term in the White House threatened a “big border tax” on the Japanese carmaker Toyota if he built a factory in Mexico and laughed at Japan for this, which he considers insufficient defense costs.

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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. The Associated Press Writers Didi Tang and Wisssert have contributed to this report from Washington.