US President Donald Trump said yesterday that Japan could protect itself from a nuclear-armed North Korea by buying billions of dollars of American military equipment, drawing an explicit link between trade and security as he began a complex, politically charged tour of Asia.
Media reported that Trump saluted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as among his best friends in the club of world leaders. But he railed against what he said were chronic trade imbalances with Japan. Trump also implicitly acknowledged his disappointment that Abe did not shoot down missiles that North Korea recently fired over Japan.
“He will shoot them out of the sky when he completes the purchase of lots of additional military equipment from the United States,” Trump said, standing alongside Abe at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo.
According to the New York Times, Trump’s remarks came on a day of high pomp and plain-spoken politics, which showcased both the president’s fitful adjustment to the rituals of statecraft and his determination to keeping pounding at the hot-button issues that vaulted him into the White House.
Follow TKG on Twitter & Facebook
