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© Thomson Reuters 2020.Trump calls Abe 'greatest prime minister in Japan's history'
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© Thomson Reuters 2020.
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Aly Rustom
Because Trump loves a butt kisser, and Abe has been romancing his posterior since they first met.
Laguna
Surprised he didn't call him "Japan's best prime minister since Lincoln."
Jonorth
I doubt Trump knows any other Japanese prime minister anyway.
Alexandre T. Ishii
If Trump knows all of what Abe was involved in internal scandal affairs he doesn't want to compete...
ohara
Its a fair enough statement. The competition is hardly glowing.
Sana Hamaya
Only adorers of Abe government believe in words from Trump.
Actuality is worst regime.
Democracy in Japan has been undermined, Japanese society was divided.
NCIS Reruns
He might have heard of Hideki Tojo. Maybe.
garypen
Doubtful. That would require knowledge.
William77
These two guys obviously love to praise each other,after all they belong to the same specie,vultures.
Do the hustle
The greatest PM in Japan’s history? How many Japanese PMs has Trump met? Oh, that’s right! Just one! Abe has done nothing to improve the economic situation in Japan after nearly a decade in office. He has increased the public debt and given corporations fact cuts. He has also increased sales tax twice with lies to promote the increases. The greatest PM ever? He’s just another LDP showboating phony! And, there is another one ready to jump into his seat.
William77
And above all the things mentioned he made life for expats way worse than before with many obligations and little to none rights as the local citizens.
And Trump called him the greatest president of Japan,oh boy.
PhantomAgent
That's a great endorsement coming from the greatest president in US history.......NOT!
viking68
Abe is the only PM to give him a gold golf club.
Mickelicious
Enough hot air between them to satisfy global energy needs.
Novenachama
In short, there is no such thing as the greatest prime minister. Each prime minister has both good and bad qualities including different values. However, it definitely is not Mr. Abe.
Toasted Heretic
It's always with the hyperbole and bluster to disguised his lack of education, or even an interest in history.
One day, not far from now, education will be seen as a dirty word in the US. It will be declared "communist" to be educated.
Yubaru
Finally! Abe's biggest accomplishment and legacy!
Aaron Hassan
It’s not surprising really. The Donald really likes using the term “great/greatest” whenever he describes something.
dbsaiya
Haha! Abe and the Japanese press shouldn't eat this up as a compliment; it's putting abe in company with Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn; apropos.
Yubaru
Pray tell, when in the history of Japan has there actually been a "democracy" in anything other than name only?
Also I would say you know little about Japan and it's history if you think the society was divided during Abe's term in office.
Japanese society is far from "divided". Just because Abe is resigning does not mean society here is divided.
u_s__reamer
Knee-jerk praise and post-mortem apple-polishing from the know-nuthin' knucklehead is not going to garner Trump any reciprocal sycophantic "sesame grinding" to boost his bloated profile for re-election, or change the true verdict of history: Abe Shinzo the longest-serving loser!
kohakuebisu
No doubt Trump's other mates Vladimir Putin, Boris Johnson, and Kim Jong-on are also all-time greats.
Angela Merkel meanwhile is "stupid" and "in the pocket of the Russians".
https://www.businessinsider.com/german-officials-alarmed-trump-merkel-call-conversations-cnn-report-2020-6
Ego Sum Lux Mundi
Calling Abe "the best Japanese PM ever" is an insult to all those great PMs of the past 75 years who have dazzled the world stage with their wise, charming and charismatic personailities... oh, wait.
jack o helen
Trump likes to throw around the title "world's greatest" even though he knows nothing about history. As long as you pander to him and like him, he'll bestow that title upon you. It doesn't matter if you're a despot, a dictator, an extremist. He doesn't care what you've done. As long as you praise him, agree with everything he does or says, and like him, he'll call you "the greatest".
kokontozai
It is obvious Abe is not the greatest PM in Japan's history, but it is certain that many foreign leaders, including UK, Australia, India, Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, etc. admired of him through their SNS. And I think that at least we have to appreciate to him about the JPY 100,000. www
Jtsnose
Trump has been involved in many scandals, ethics violations . . . he is one of the few U. S. Presidents have been impeached.
OssanAmerica
What a stupid comment but it comes from someone who constantly makes stupid comments. Am impeached president at that. Leaving aside all the domestic issues, Abe was well respected by most if not all of the world. That, whether one likes it or not, is a fact.
Blacklabel
all the people who were whining about their 100,000 yen payments (yet got them) now feel they need to disparage Abe just to prove Trump wrong.
sad.
Hello Kitty 321
@ Yubaru
At least prior to Abe, the diet would meet to decided things. Now everything is decided solely by the cabinet.
Peter Neil
Says a guy who can't even pronounce his name correctly.
rainyday
OK, so what is that? His 30,000th lie or so?
Droopy
Whatever Trump proclaims “the greatest” must be...according to idiots that love to sniff his jockstrap.
Randy Johnson
Wow. A load of negative comments. Perfectly encapsulates the leftist mindset.
All the while benefiting economically.
JJ Jetplane
Just like that, Abe is now certain to be considered the worst Prime Minister in Japanese history because his endorsement came from Trump. I am 99% certain Trump knows nothing about what Abe has done or even the past Prime Ministers in Japan.
BertieWooster
The Best Japanese PM?
No way.
And not the worst either. Neither good nor bad. Possibly the worst thing you can say about anybody is that they are boring. Abe will go down in history as just another mediocre civil servant.
What is his legacy? What does he leave? What changes did he make?
Relations with the neighbours got worse. The economy got worse. Several scandals were covered up.
INVALID CSRF!
chuckmo
Does anyone in the world truly believe Trump could name another Japanese prime minister?
Fighto!
Whether Abe was the "greatest" Japanese PM - or just one of the top few - is a matter for history to debate in 50-100 years. He sure is regarded as a real Statesman almost universally around the world.
Jimizo
When pushed on his knowledge of Japanese PMs, Trump reportedly said Maria Ozawa was second in his estimation.
A real statesman? Are you going for the gravitas this time? I liked your description of Abe as a ‘street fighter from Yamaguchi’ better. Really sums up this blue-collar kid who had to scrap his way to the top without any connections.
1glenn
Being praised by Trump is cause for alarm....
bass4funk
Well, most leaders will do that to the US, they want our money so the kissing is real, they just become later two-faced at the UN assembly when they got what they needed. As for Abe, maybe Trump just thinks he’s a great guy.
Xeno Man
It is more like the greatest Japanese puppet in American history.
Yubaru
Obviously dont watch NHK. Pray tell what has the "cabinet" decided upon without the diet's approval?
Come on.....let's hear it?
u_s__reamer
So after recounting the capture of the British air fields in the American War of Independence and explaining how WW2 ended in 1917 when the "Spanish Flu" sickened all the soldiers Trump is now showboating his spurious authority as a history buff, specializing in Japanese history, to making us believe "honest" Abe was the greatest of them all. That's no consolation to the ailing Shinzo knowing how it feels to be "Trumped" for the history books.
TheReds
Hahahahahahaha!!! D & D'ber!!!!
Graham DeShazo
Trump is a poor man’s image of a rich guy and an idiot’s idea of a smart guy. So of course his comments on Abe are totally accurate.
Nippori Nick
As if Trump knows much about Japan's history.
William77
Interesting how some posters above think that he will be recognize as one of the greatest PM in the world.
His resignation where little to none interest in the old continent,major german and italian newspaper didn’t even cover the news.
He is/was considered a light way in international politics and a shadow of Trump.
William77
*light weight
Simon Foston
BlacklabelToday 05:52 pm JST
I was disparaging Abe long before Trump got into politics.
Fighto!Today 06:58 pm JST
Or maybe a bit sooner. Articles are starting to be written in the foreign press.
Wait until people around the world start reading about Moritomo Gakuen, Kake Gakuen, Sakura parties for koenkai, the Anri bribe money and that pet prosecutor he tried to keep in office. He'll soon start to be regarded as venal, mediocre, third generation provincial parvenu trash.
bass4funkToday 07:22 pm JST
I'll be surprised if he can even remember who Abe is after a few months.
Dr Maybe
@Randy Johnson
Wow. A load of negative comments. Perfectly encapsulates the leftist mindset.
All the while benefiting economically.
And who's benefiting economically? The rich (DUH!!!). How many people thrown out of blue collar jobs in the mid-west rust belt are now saying: ""Oh yeah, my share portfolio is doing great! I'm saved!"
oldman_13
Hilarious.
Dr Maybe
@Bass
Well, most leaders will do that to the US, they want our money so the kissing is real...
No, the most impoverished nations in the world may be interested in your money, but the majority of mature democracies around the world are interested in your CO-OPERATION on very serious shared problems, for example the climate crisis. Oh wait! I forgot. That's all a marxist hoax, right?
Yubaru
Wow, you obviously have a very short memory! That 100,000 payout was NOT because of Abe, it was because Komeito threatened to break their decades long coalition with the LDP if Abe didnt change HIS plan of giving households(ONLY) 300,000 and screw the rest of the people!
And days following that, Abe started having problems with his health!
bass4funk
Please stop confusing Trump with Biden.
Not only the impoverished ones.
https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/here-is-why-europe-needs-america-1.67082293
Oh, here we go....
Dr Maybe
@bass
Your choice of link today is a little puzzling. Of course it's at the low end of the credibility scale, as usual, but it seems like there's all kinds of ideas coming out in it, and the writer doesn't even know what he/she wants to say. It almost makes you almost pine for straight out, nutcase Breitbart. For example:
"The world is learning to expect plenty of words from Washington, but ever-less action: Trump has become a president who speaks loudly while carrying a small stick. For America’s allies, it’s the worst possible combination."
It seems like you're making my case for me.
Akie
Abe is the greatest prime minister in Japan's history to make Japan smaller again:
GDP, down
Population, down
Yen, down
happiness, down
Ties with neighbors, down
Now, the third world becomes fourth world.
Strangerland
Trump only has the linguistic ability to make two descriptions of people. They're either nasty and the worst X in history, or they're the best X in history.
Kind of like how he knows more about X than anyone. Where X is the current topic at hand.
B. Jay
What does Trump know about Japanese history?
bokuda
Abe is greatest prime minister, and Trump the second greatest.
We are so blessed to have had this two beings of light leading our lives.
smithinjapan
First, Trump wouldn't be able to name another PM if his life depended on it. Second, if Trump is saying someone is the greatest ever, it usually means they are a criminal, or at the very least, someone who doesn't do their job well and only kisses his butt.
J-Money
Trump comments aside...
Can some of the same experts on Japanese political history here please name the “best” 3-5 Japanese PM’s in postwar Japan? How about in post-bubble Japan?
borscht
J-Money,
If best is defined as getting things done to change Japan. Postwar, I’d go with Tanaka, Fukuda, Nakasone, Tojo, and MacArthur (not in any order).
Pukey2
Kiss of death.
theFu
It is exactly the same as when a spouse says their husband/wife is the best in the world. We all know that is unlikely true, but smile anyway.
This is the sort of political lying that I don't really mind.
Everyone knows it isn't true, but to the people who like Abe, it is nice to hear.
bass4funk
Ditto.
Hmmm...I disagree.
Peter Neil
Koizumi had almost 85% popularity at one time and many would say he was one of the best post-war PM.
William Bjornson
With all of his other issues, including his incurable auto-immune disease (see: JapanToday Poll: "Are you an anti-vaxxer?"), the last thing Abe-san needs on his resume is praise from trump which, for any thinking person, is more an accusation than an accolade...
Yubaru
Pearl Harbor,Hiroshima, and that's about it!
Serrano
I see Trump has once again triggered all the anti-Trump JT posters hehe
Says a guy who can't even pronounce his name correctly.
Hey, he didn't pronounce it like Abe Froman did he? hehe
Pearl Harbor,Hiroshima, and that's about it!
He also knows about Japan's trade surplus with the U.S. which is another thing Biden has never known about in his 47 years in government.
funkymofo
The guy who has spent his political career dealing in international politics and trade has never known about the trade surplus, but the real estate grifter from New York has had his finger on the pulse the entire time.
OK
Serrano
The guy who has spent his political career dealing in international politics and trade has never known about the trade surplus,
OK, he may have known about it at one time but he never did anything about it, did he?
but the real estate grifter from New York has had his finger on the pulse the entire time.*Exactly. Trump's been talking about Japan killing us in trade since the 1980s. Watch some of his early interviews, including the ones with Oprah.
Remember, a vote for Biden is like a chicken voting for Colonel sanders.
Visiblink
Ito or Yoshida would have been more likely choices.
funkymofo
Trump making pronouncements about populist issues he knows nothing about is not new. It's a luxury afforded those who are playing no part in the actual processes of governance, public service or understanding of the intricacies involved in the issues themselves. It's like a guy who dodged the draft denigrating veterans and telling the military how to run their affairs. Or someone making a joke out of the AIDS epidemic, saying he fought his own personal battle by dating in the 80s, for example.
starpunk
Trump might not know the name but he is like him, and Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, Salazar, Peron, Videla, Pinochet, and so many other fascists in history.
He acts like a fascist.
He talks like a fascist.
He has an agenda of fascism.
Gonna have to face it, Donald Trump is a fascist.
Aly Rustom
No they don't. Mostly they are ignoring trump and waiting for him to be gone.
Serrano
*Gonna have to face it, *Donald Trump is a fascist.
He is not.
A posthumous compliment from Trump is really just speaking ill of the dead...
Hold on there, partner, last time I checked Abe was still alive.
starpunk
Or praising with faint damns. Not only is Trump a fascist, he's also a big time butt-kisser. Ask Putin, Kim, Xi, the Saudi king and more. Big Time Butt Kisser Maximus and an embarassment all around. He has put America to SHAME!
Toasted Heretic
He sure is.
But let's be positive for one moment - those of us who follow and are fascinated by history all know what happens to fascists and dictators.
The more he pushes, the greater the pushback. He should do the decent thing, like Abe, and step down before he finds himself in too deep.
H Matsui
Japanese friends. President Trump is beloved for saving the USA from a disastrous post Obama, Hillary Presidency. President Trump will win both the popular and the Electoral College for an ever greater second term, especially if we take the House back and keep the Senate by an ever bigger majority. Real Americans respect the Japanese culture and people because unlike America's Democrat Cultists, the Japanese believe in hard work and protecting its culture by having a tough immigration policy. G@D BLESS JAPAN & G@D BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! We make a great team.
shogun36
Does Trump understand the meaning of the word "great?"
It sure doesn't seem like he does.
nandakandamanda
Surely Trump exaggerates.
Simon Foston
SerranoToday 10:13 am JST
Don't need to remember. I have a suspicion that you think you've hit on a meme there and that you're going to repeat it at least a dozen times.
mariasjapan
Can't trust Trump's knowledge about Japanese history.
zurcronium
Abe was Trump light before Trump became President. Same empty rhetoric, fake issues (wall and NK kidnappings), massive debt, economic ruin, huge military buildup for no reason, lazy, and now both of them are physically sick.
Trump thinks the PM before Abe was PM SushiRoll.
bass4funk
So there's hope for China and Cuba after all.
Not going to happen, Abe, wish him all the best.