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| Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe |
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to highlight the importance of the security alliance between his country and the United States as he meets Thursday with president-elect Donald Trump.
Since winning election last week, Trump has spoken by phone with a number of world leaders, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the talks with Abe will be the first in-person meeting for Trump as he prepares to take office in January.
Before departing Japan, Abe said he wanted to use the meeting to discuss his vision for the future with Trump.
"The alliance only works based on trust. So I would like to build that trust with President Trump, and based on that I would like to work together with him towards world peace and prosperity," he said.
During his campaign, Trump questioned several bedrocks of the U.S.-Japanese relationship, suggesting that the U.S. was doing too much to provide defense to Japan. He floated the idea of allowing Japan and others in the region nuclear weapons and forcing higher payments to support the deployment of U.S. forces in those countries.
The U.S. has about 53,000 military personnel based in Japan along with 43,000 dependent family members and 5,000 Defense Department civilian employees.
Supporters of the defense alliance argue that beyond the benefits to Japan, there are strategic gains for the U.S. by having its forces deployed in that part of the world.
"Prime Minister Abe will definitely talk about the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and that alliance is not only for Japan and the United States, but also for the entire Indo-Pacific region as well as world politics," Abe advisor Katsuyuki Kawai told Reuters.
The Trump transition team also said it will announce Thursday the first set of people who will be sent to various federal agencies to get up to speed on their operations. Spokesman Sean Spicer said that will include those going to the State Department, Pentagon, Justice Department and the National Security Council.
Next week, teams will be announced focusing on economic policy, domestic policy and independent agencies.
Spicer told journalists that all those named to visit the agencies will sign the transition team's form banning them from being a registered lobbyist for five years after leaving government service.
In addition to talks with Abe, Trump will continue holding meetings Thursday in New York as he forms his policy agenda and considers who will join his government. Spicer said former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Rick Scott will be among those meeting with the transition team.
U.S. media accounts have described levels of turmoil in the discussions after his aides pushed out two of his national security advisers. But Trump insists the process is "going so smoothly" and that only he knows who is a finalist for the various Cabinet positions.
Haley is among those rumored to be considered for secretary of state, along with former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Trump on Wednesday singled out The New York Times for its report on his transition efforts, saying that one of the world's leading newspapers "is just upset that they looked like fools in their coverage of me." He said the newspaper's "story is so totally wrong on transition."
The Times also reported that the State and Justice departments, as well as the Pentagon, had yet to hear from anyone from the Trump team, more than a week after the election.
This story first appeared on Voice of America & is reposted here with permission.