Shinzo Abe had good reason to return home to Japan feeling satisfied about a good weekend's work and play in Washington and Florida, with a little bit of help from his friend Kim Jong Un. The North Korean leader broke into the prime minister's dinner tete-a-tete with President Donald Trump by firing an upgraded medium range ballistic missile 500 km into the Sea of Japan on Feb. 12. Pictures show the leaders of Japan and the U.S. and their aides studying papers with the aid of lights of mobile telephones also illuminating iceberg lettuce on the plates in front of them.
Was this a breach of U.S. national security for the president to be discussing sensitive issues in front of Abe, and other diners, at Trump's resort? Or perhaps, as claimed, they were merely scrambling to finalize the press release. At any event, Trump stood with Abe and promised: "The United States stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent."
This was a change from Trump's campaign rampage when he accused Japan of ripping off the U.S. through its trade and currency policies, and taking a free ride on U.S. military protection
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