By RYO KIYOMIYA/ Correspondent
December 16, 2024 at 17:32 JST
From left: President-elect Donald Trump, Akie Abe and Trump’s wife, Melania Trump. They met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Dec. 15. (From Melania Trump's post on Truth Social)
Akie Abe, the widow of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, dined with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Dec. 15.
Melania posted a photo of the three on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social.
Melania commented on the post that, “It was a privilege to host Mrs. Akie Abe at Mar-a-Lago once again. We fondly remembered her late husband, former Prime Minister Abe, and honored his remarkable legacy.”
It is believed that Trump invited Akie for the private meeting because of his close relationship with the late Japanese prime minister, who was assassinated in 2022.
According to U.S. major news network CNN, the meeting was set up through direct conversations between the two, not through government channels.
CNN also mentioned that Trump has called Akie regularly to check up on her since her husband died.
The late Abe met with Trump in New York in November 2016, shortly after Trump was first elected as U.S. president.
After that, they engaged in a series of golf outings and other activities, building a close personal relationship. Trump has continued to speak highly of Abe even before this year’s U.S. presidential election.
Meanwhile, incumbent Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sought to meet with Trump on his way back to Japan after his diplomatic trip to South America in November, but was unable to set up a meeting.
At the time, the Japanese government explained that Trump’s camp said the president-elect would not meet with the leaders of other countries until his inauguration in January of next year.
However, Trump has met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since his election in November.
The Japanese government plans to arrange a meeting between Trump and Ishiba as soon as possible after Trump’s inauguration.
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