U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he could meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba before he returns to the White House in January.
During a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump said of the Japanese side, "If they'd like to do that, I would do that."
Trump's remarks came a day after he and his wife hosted Akie Abe, the widow of slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at the estate.
According to Trump, Akie Abe was "very close" to Melania Trump and the meeting on Sunday night materialized after she had called the former first lady.
Trump said the late Japanese leader was a "great man" and the three spent time together out of respect for him, adding that he sent Ishiba a "book and some other things" through the widow.
About a month earlier, Ishiba was unable to hold an in-person meeting with Trump on his way back to Japan from South America, despite hoping to do so.
Speaking to reporters in Peru after participating in an international meeting, Ishiba said at the time that according to Trump's team, the president-elect could not hold talks with him before taking office due to legal constraints.
Since then, however, Trump has held talks with other world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.
On Ishiba, Trump also said Monday he has great respect for his position, and indicated he would be "here" if the prime minister wants to have a meeting.
Asked if his pick for ambassador to Japan will be George Glass, a businessman from Oregon with a background in investment banking and real estate, Trump reiterated a couple of times that Glass is "highly respected," but did not provide a clear answer to the question.
"He's been an ambassador before. He did a fantastic job. We consider Japan very important. He's very highly respected," Trump said.
CBS News reported Saturday that Trump is considering choosing Glass as his envoy to Tokyo.
A major Trump donor, Glass served as ambassador to Portugal during Trump's first term as president between 2017 and 2021.
Trump's nationally televised press conference, the first since he won the election on Nov. 5, was set as an appearance with Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., to announce the Japanese technology giant's plan to invest $100 billion in the United States over the next four years.
But Trump later took a number of questions, including those related to foreign affairs.
Asked whether he has invited world leaders to his inauguration ceremony on Jan 20, Trump said many had called to express their wishes to meet with him at an early date and "I'll be seeing some of them."
"I think it's rude not to, I mean it's hard to say 'I'm not going to see you,'" he said.
Trump said he does not know if Chinese President Xi Jinping would be interested in attending the inauguration, but added, "I would say that if he'd like to come, I'd love to have him."
While noting that "there's been nothing much discussed" about such a plan, Trump said the United States and China can together "solve all of the problems in the world" and that the bilateral relationship is "very important."
"He was a friend of mine," Trump said in reference to Xi. "We spent hours and hours talking, and he is an amazing guy. The press hates when I say that, but he's an amazing person."
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