As heads of state around the world struggle to figure out how to handle U. S. President Donald Trump, Japan’s leader is honing a strategy of building personal ties first, fretting policy gaps second.
Donald Trump has jarred Japan by blasting its trade practices and hinting he might yank the American security umbrella protecting the country since World War II. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to parry those threats not with confrontation, but through a day bonding over golf and socializing with the two leaders’ wives.
