Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba boards a plane on Nov. 14 at Tokyo's Haneda Airport to fly to South America to attend international conferences. (Kazuhiro Nagashima)

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will not be stopping off in the United States to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on his return flight from international conferences in South America.

Several government sources said it had become difficult to arrange a meeting between Ishiba and Trump because the president-elect was too busy deciding on appointments to important posts in his Cabinet.

Ishiba is now in Lima, Peru, to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. He will later fly to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Group of 20 summit.

Government officials had sought to arrange a meeting with Trump at his residence in Florida while Ishiba was on his way back to Japan.

Ishiba spoke by phone with Trump on Nov. 7 after he was declared the winner in the U.S. presidential election to offer his congratulations. 

Ishiba later told reporters that Trump had agreed to hold a face-to-face meeting as soon as possible.

Ishiba was likely trying to emulate Shinzo Abe, who was one of the first world leaders to meet with Trump in New York after he won the 2016 presidential election.

Abe, who forged close personal ties with Trump, was assassinated in July 2022 after stepping down as prime minister.

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