Japan’s Shinzo Abe was the first foreign leader to meet president-elect Donald Trump face-to-face after the 2016 American election—no doubt because Japan has the world’s third-largest economy and plays a major role internationally in trade, development aid, capital, and credit.
Abe’s recent visit with Trump in Florida occurred as the bilateral relationship was fraying. Tokyo was blindsided when the president announced his intention to hold talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, contrary to the longstanding principle that the United States, Japan, and South Korea speak with one voice to prevent Pyongyang from driving a wedge between them.
