Japan-United States of America Relations

On August 31, commencing at around 10:00 a.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. ABE Shinzo, Prime Minister of Japan, held a summit telephone talk with the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America. The overview of the talk is as follows.

1. At the outset, Prime Minister Abe expressed his sympathy for the significant damage caused by Hurricane Laura, as well as his sincere condolences on the recent passing of Mr. Robert Trump, President Trump's younger brother.
2. Prime Minister Abe then explained that he would resign from his position as Prime Minister. He continued by thanking President Trump for furthering the cooperation between the two countries over many visits and phone calls, based on the deep personal trust between them, and for making the Japan-U.S. relationship stronger than ever before. He also stated that, in order to further deepen the Japan-U.S. alliance, he would like to work on realizing a new security policy regarding countering missiles. In response, President Trump expressed his gratitude for his special friendship with Prime Minister Abe and reiterated his appreciation for the Prime Minister's strong leadership.
3. Furthermore, Prime Minister Abe expressed his gratitude for President Trump's cooperation on the abductions issue, and asked for the President's continued support toward its resolution.
4. The two leaders explained their respective efforts to combat COVID-19, and agreed to continue  cooperation in the development and distribution of therapeutics and vaccines between Japan and the U.S.