Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Meet amid Strains over North Korea, Trade

President Donald Trump met with his Japanese counterpart at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Tuesday to talk about trade, military security and North Korea.

“North Korea is coming along,” said Trump. “South Korea is meeting and has plans to meet to see if they can end the war and they have my blessing on that.” 

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is on board to end North Korea's nuclear program but also doesn't want Trump to lose sight of the North's short-range missiles that can strike Tokyo. 

Abe just wants to make sure that his country's interests are addressed during the upcoming US-North Korea summit. 

“For the North Korean issue, I want to underscore the importance of achieving the complete and irreversible denuclearization as well as the abandonment of missile programs with North Korea,” said Prime Minister Abe. 

“Japan and ourselves are locked and we are very unified on the subject of North Korea,” said Trump. “We’ll be having conversations with Kim Jong Un very soon.” 

While Trump kicked off his two-day summit with Abe, his new national security adviser, John Bolton, also met with Japanese officials at the White House to address their concerns over the rogue regime.

Regarding trade, President Trump has said America has been taken advantage of by Japan, South Korea and China to the tune of billions of dollars.

During the talks, Abe will likely shift the focus to reverse a decision to impose new steel and aluminum tariffs on Japan.

Trump and Abe are expected resume their discussion on Wednesday.