You might call it “golf diplomacy.”
WEST PALM BEACH (CBSMiami/AP) – You might call it “golf diplomacy.”
President Donald Trump and Japan’s Shinzo Abe hit the links at Trump International Golf Club, a Trump-owned course, in West Palm Beach early Wednesday morning.
Trump and Abe are both avid golfers and played last year at another Trump course in Jupiter.
They also partook in a round at the Kasumi Country Club when Trump visited Japan last year.
During that round, Abe at one point fell backward into a bunker. He quickly recovered and Trump didn’t appear to see the fall.
Trump and First Lady Melania are hosting Shinzo and his wife at Mar-a-Lago.
The two-day Trump-Abe summit is playing out amid growing tensions over trade and North Korea.
The president is seeking to reassure Abe of their close alliance ahead of Trump’s planned talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Officials signal Trump is open to considering exempting Japan from new steel and aluminum tariffs that Abe opposes.
Trump also gave Abe a win on Tuesday, pledging to raise the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, a top Japanese priority, in his meeting with Kim.
Later Trump suggested there was one area where he and Abe would have to agree to disagree: the Trans-Pacific trade partnership. Trump pulled the U. S. out of it of days after his inauguration but has recently said he might be open to re-joining.
