Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba may as well have French kissed Donald Trump during their joint press conference at the White House, with his extreme fawning over the American “celebrity” president.
Ishiba had just met with Trump for the first time on Friday and he appeared overawed at seeing the former reality star he had “watched for many, many years on television.”
He said he was “so excited to meet such a celebrity” in person.
“On television, he is frightening and he has a very strong personality,” continued the Japanese leader. “But when I met with him, actually, he was very sincere and very powerful and with strong will for the United States as for the whole world.
“I was able to feel that,” Ishiba said of his American counterpart’s magnetism. “This is not the sort of trying to suck up to him.”
He said Japan decided on its own to beef up its defenses and said tariffs would be set if they were “mutually beneficial.”
Japan would be investing up to $1 trillion in business with the United States, he added.
Trump was quick to kiss back, saying: “Well, I think that he is going to be a great prime minister. I think he’s a very strong man. Very, very strong. I have great respect for him.”
Their foreplay had been building for some time until they met face to face, finally, on Friday.
“I’ve known him for a long time through a reputation,” Trump said.
He said former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe thought the world of Ishiba and said he was a “strong guy.” Trump and Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, were friends who enjoyed golfing together.
Trump also boasted about his good relationship with Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader he famously met during his first term, saying: “I got along with him and he got along with me. That is a good thing, not a bad thing. I think that is a tremendous achievement for the world.”
He added: “I think I stopped a war.”
The visit was the first by an Asian leader since Trump was sworn into office a second time in January.
The U.S. has a $68 billion trade deficit with Japan, but Trump said that was unlikely to be an issue.
“I think it will be very easy for Japan,” he said. “We have a fantastic relationship. I don’t think we’ll have any problem. They want fairness also.”
