Trump pays highest respect to outgoing Japanese Minister Abe

United States President Donald Trump has said that he pays his “highest respect” to outgoing Japanese Minister Shinzo Abe.

Trump sympathized with “great friend” Abe who had to decide to step down due to health problems.

While speaking to repoters on Friday August 28, 2020, Trump said he had a great relationship with Abe and he felt “very sad” about his resignation as Prime Minister due to his health problems.

He described Abe as a good compatriot whose love for his country is overwhelming.

Abe plans to have phone talks with Trump on Monday, according to Japanese and US government sources on Saturday.

A senior Trump administration official separately said that the US government expresses gratitude for Abe’s “outstanding” leadership as the country’s longest continuously serving leader.

The US official said, with Trump administration, Abe has “made the US-Japan alliance, and our overall relationship, the strongest it has ever been.

Japan and the United States have had a shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and have significantly advanced together despite China’s increasing clout and assertiveness in the region, as the US anticipates a sustained relationship with the administration of Abe’s successor, the official added.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, the immediate former vice president who is running in the November election, said on Twitter that he is “sad” to see Abe’s departure but added “the strong alliance between our countries and peoples will continue for generations to come.”

On Friday, Abe surprised countries around the world by announcing that he is resigning because of a chronic health issue that has resurfaced, ending his nearly eight-year tenure as prime minister.

U.S. former National Security Adviser John Bolton said in his White House memoir published in June that Trump’s best personal relationship among world leaders was Abe as “golf buddies as well as colleagues.”

“Abe’s resignation is a great loss to Japan and United States. He is a first-class world leader and one of America’s staunchest allies. All best wishes!” he tweeted on Friday.