Donald Trump proved that he’s still the showman during a state visit to Japan.
The US President danced to the YMCA in front of Sanae Takaichi, the country’s first female and newest Prime Minister while promising he will do ‘anything I can do to help Japan’.
Declaring the country ‘an ally at the strongest level’, he welcomed her on board the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier docked at an American naval base near Tokyo.
Mr Trump remarked on PM Takaichi’s ‘very strong’ handshake during the trip, which took place against the backdrop of trying to agree a $550 billion (£415 million) trade deal.
Those deals, aimed at the supply of rare earth minerals to remove reliance on China, he said mark a ‘golden age’ for the US-Japan alliance.
In return, Japan is looking at a potential purchase of Ford F-150 trucks.
In the spirit of hospitality, Mr Trump was served American beef and rice, mixed with Japanese ingredients.
And continuing the entente cordiale, Mrs Takaichi also offered 250 cherry trees and fireworks to honour the 250th anniversary of American independence.
She also gave him a golf putter – a memento from her mentor and former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, who forged a strong bond with Mr Trump during his first term through their shared interest of golf.
The leaders also met with Sakie Yokota, 89, and others whose loved ones were abducted by North Korea decades ago.
In 1977, Yokota’s then-13-year-old daughter Megumi was taken to North Korea from Japan’s northern coast on her way home from school.
‘It’s a critical moment. We are getting old and this decades-old problem that has been left unresolved is now in the hands of our children,’ Ms Yokota said.
‘I desperately hope President Trump would have good talks with (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un and convince him to return our loved ones.’
The president arrived in Tokyo on Monday, when he met with the emperor in a ceremonial visit, after attending the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
There were signs that tensions between the US and China were cooling off ahead of a planned meeting between Mr Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which is expected to take place in South Korea later this week.
Top negotiators from each country said a trade deal was coming together, which could prevent a potentially damaging confrontation between the world’s two largest economies.
Details were scarce, and it was unclear how much any agreement would resolve long-standing issues, or if it would return the relationship to the status quo before recent confrontations.
China has restructured the export of rare earth elements that are critical for high-tech manufacturing, and Mr Trump responded by threatening tariffs that even he admits would be unsustainable.
Mr Trump is scheduled to leave Japan on Wednesday for South Korea, which is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit.
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