Stimson in the News

Yuki Tatsumi cited about the one-sided political relationship between Trump and Shinzo Abe

In Japan

On Monday, President Trump announced that the United States and Japan reached an initial trade deal. But don’t be fooled. As geopolitical bets go, the one that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe placed on Trump might rank among the worst in modern history.

Scrutinizing Trump’s bromances is a popular parlor game among foreign policy wags. There’s his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, just to name a few.

Yet no bond has persevered as much as Abe’s bond with Trump — or arguably yielded less.

It all started with a sprint to New York’s Trump Tower on Nov. 17, 2016, nine days after Trump’s shock win. When Abe visited the United States 50 days prior to the election, he met Hillary Clinton but not Trump. Why waste time meeting a Republican challenger she would surely vanquish?

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