Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is considering visiting the United States later this month to hold his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Japanese government sources have said.
The U.S. trip will follow Ishiba’s visit to Brazil, where he is slated to attend an international meeting, according to the sources.
Trump, who is set to be inaugurated Jan. 20, following his victory in Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election, is already engaging in diplomacy with other world leaders.
Ishiba, who took office in early October, aims to build a relationship of trust with the former U.S. president and reach an agreement with him to further fortify the Japan-U.S. alliance.
The Japanese government is working with the Trump team on arranging a schedule and a venue for an Ishiba-Trump meeting. Japanese officials may visit the United States next week to discuss details of the expected meeting.
Ishiba is scheduled to attend a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in the Peruvian capital of Lima from Friday and then travel to Brazil to take part in a summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in Rio de Janeiro on Nov. 18 and 19.
The Japanese leader is then expected to travel to the United States, the sources said.
In phone talks on Thursday, Ishiba and Trump agreed to meet in person at an early date.
At the envisaged face-to-face meeting, Ishiba wants to confirm with Trump the further strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance at a time when China, Russia and North Korea are expanding military activities around Japan.
The Japanese side is likely to carefully consider whether a possible revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, an issue advocated by Ishiba, should be taken up at the expected meeting.
In November 2016, soon after Trump was elected U.S. president for the first time, then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with him for about 90 minutes at Trump Tower in New York.
Abe and Trump gave each other golf equipment, and this is believed to have cleared a path for them to develop an amicable relationship.
