KYODO NEWS – 22 hours ago – 12:53 | All, Japan, World
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya is arranging to attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president on Jan. 20, a government source said Friday, as the Asian nation rushes to build ties with the incoming administration in its most important ally.
The trip is apparently intended to lay the groundwork for talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump after the latter is sworn in for the second time as U.S. leader. The Japanese government has received an invitation to attend the inauguration ceremony, the source said.
Japan has usually been represented at U.S. presidential inaugurations by its ambassador in Washington, according to a source familiar with the matter.
When he visits the United States, Iwaya intends to explore the possibility of talks with Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been nominated for U.S. secretary of state and is awaiting Senate confirmation.
While it is not customary for foreign leaders to attend the U.S. president’s swearing-in ceremony, Trump extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping, incoming White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed last month.
Instead of Xi, China will send a high-level envoy to the inauguration, the Financial Times reported Thursday, calling it an unprecedented move designed to reduce friction between the countries at the start of the new U.S. administration.
Among the Group of Seven industrialized nations, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Thursday she has been invited and is considering attending the event if her schedule permits.
Ishiba, meanwhile, has expressed his intention to meet with Trump “at the most appropriate time and in an appropriate form,” without providing a specific time frame. Government sources have said he is looking to February or later for a summit meeting with the Republican president.
Japanese lawmaker Satsuki Katayama told reporters Friday that she plans to attend the inauguration after being offered the chance late last year by Sen. William Hagerty, who was U.S. ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first term.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party member in the House of Councillors said she also attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2017. Katayama also said she had consulted with Ishiba and others about her upcoming trip to the United States.
Ishiba looked into the possibility of an in-person meeting with Trump in November, on his way back to Japan from a trip to South America. But it was not realized as, according to the Japanese government, Trump’s side cited legal constraints preventing the next U.S. president from meeting with foreign leaders before his inauguration.
Since then, however, Trump has held talks with other world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Ishiba also sought to travel to the United States in mid-January. But the idea was shelved, with some Japanese government officials insisting that a “long talk” in a formal summit meeting after Trump assumes office would be more beneficial.
In December, Trump met with Akie Abe, the widow of slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Shinzo Abe, including through his “golf diplomacy,” succeeded in building a personal rapport with Trump, who was first elected in 2016 with no experience of public office and proved to be unpredictable and unconventional in his dealings with world leaders.
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KYODO NEWS – 26 minutes ago – 10:56 | All, Japan, World
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