Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calls U.S. President-elect Donald Trump a leader in whom he can have "great confidence."
Abe is the first world leader to meet with Trump after he won the U.S. presidential election. The two met at the Trump Tower in New York. "I do believe that without confidence between the two nations, the alliance would never function in the future and as the outcome of today's discussion, I am convinced Mr. Trump is a leader in whom I can have great confidence," the Japanese official said.
Abe said he and Trump talked about basic issues, but gave no details. Trump did not comment on the meeting.
During his campaign, Trump questioned several bedrocks of the U.S.-Japanese relationship, suggesting that the U.S. was doing too much to provide defense to Japan. He floated the idea of allowing Japan and others in the region nuclear weapons and forcing higher payments to support the deployment of U.S. forces in those countries.
The U.S. has about 53,000 military personnel based in Japan along with 43,000 dependent family members and 5,000 Defense Department civilian employees.
Supporters of the defense alliance argue that beyond the benefits to Japan, there are strategic gains for the U.S. by having its forces deployed in that part of the world.
Trump also opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement -- a deal that Japan supports.
Trump spent most of Thursday with his transition team, making plans for his new administration, as well as listening to advice from such veteran diplomats as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Trump says he has tremendous respect for Kissinger and said they talked about such major issues as China, Russia and Iran. He also met with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a possible choice for secretary of state.
The transition team also announced that Trump would meet Saturday with former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor was a vocal critic of Trump and held a press conference earlier this year, where he said "dishonesty is Trump's hallmark." The two were to discuss the transition operations as well as the possibility that Romney was being considered as a candidate for secretary of state.
日本首相安倍晋三说，对美国当选总统川普，他很有信心。
安倍是第一个与川普会面的外国领导人。他们星期四在纽约的川普大厦会面。
安倍说：“我相信如果两国之间没有信任，我们的联盟就无法在未来发挥作用；通过今天的会面我认识到川普先生是一个我很有信心的领导人。”
安倍说，他和川普讨论了一些很基本的议题，不过他没有加以详细说明。川普没有对这次会面发表评论。
川普在大选期间曾对美日关系中的基础提出质疑，认为美国为日本防卫付出太多。他还非正式地提出允许日本和这一地区其他国家发展核武器，让这些国家多承担美国驻军费用。
美国在日本驻扎5万3千军人，4万3千家属和5千名国防部文职人员。
美日防务同盟的支持者认为，这种关系不仅对日本有好处，在这一地区驻扎美军也有利于美国的战略利益。
川普还反对跨太平洋贸易伙伴协定，而日本支持这一协定。
川普星期四大部分时间都在和他的过渡团队一起制定新政府的计划，并听取前国务卿基辛格等资深外交人士的意见。川普说，他非常尊重基辛格，他们讨论了中国，俄罗斯和伊朗等重大议题。川普还会晤了可能成为下任国务卿的南卡罗莱纳州长哈雷。
川普的过渡团队还宣布，川普星期六将与前麻萨诸塞州州长、前共和党总统候选人罗姆尼会面。罗姆尼公开批评川普，并曾在今年早些时候的资讯发布会上，说“不诚实是川普的特征”。川普与罗姆尼将讨论权力过渡，以及罗姆尼担任国务卿的可能性。