A key adviser to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has held talks with senior White House officials and — likely most crucially for Japan — Republican lawmakers and others close to President-elect Donald Trump.

Akihisa Nagashima, who holds the post of special adviser to Ishiba, met with the lawmakers, officials and others during his visit to Washington from Wednesday through Sunday, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo.

The visit to the U.S. comes on the heels of Ishiba’s aborted attempt to meet with Trump in the United States after the Japanese leader attended summits in South America earlier this month. Nagashima’s trip is expected to help pave the way for a future meeting between the two allies’ leaders.