Subject: POTUS Foreign Pool Report #1, 5/25/19 (Greetings from Tokyo, Japan)
Konnichiwa from Haneda International Airport where it’s 86 ºF (or 30 ºC ), unseasonably high temperature for this time of year.
It’s my pleasure to be your foreign pool reporter today as a Japanese journalist covering the White House.
While waiting for AF1’s arrival here, I would like to share some background information about President Trump’s visit to Japan.
This is his 2nd visit to Japan as the President, and his first state visit.
President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Abe have held more than 40 talks (including phone calls) since President Trump’s inauguration.
3 meetings in 3 months!
Since President Trump said that he will be going to the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Abe will have met every month between April and June.
April (Washington DC and Virginia, USA):
4/26:Bilat, Restricted Bilat, Expanded Bilat, and Dinner at the White House
According to the Government of Japan, the meetings cumulatively lasted about 105 minutes (Bilat 45 min, Restricted Bilat 25 min, and Expanded Bilat 35 min)
President Trump, Mrs. Trump, Prime Minister Abe & Mrs. Abe had dinner to celebrate Mrs. Trump’s birthday.
4/27 Golf at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia
According to pool reports, both leaders stayed at the club for about 5 and a half hours.
May (Tokyo, Japan):
This is a state visit for President Trump and the First Lady, Mrs. Melania Trump. They will be the first state dignitaries to meet Japan’s new emperor since his enthronement on May 1, 2019. President Trump is expected to make a state call with Emperor Naruhito, meet PM Abe, and participate in a state banquet.
During the visit, he is also expected to attend the final day of a sumo wrestling tournament.
June (Osaka, Japan):
President Trump is planning to participate in the G20 Summit. This will be first G20 in Japan.
While he was in Japan last time…
President Trump’s first visit was in November, 2017, and it was an official visit (NOT a state visit).
He arrived at Yokota Air Base (NOT Haneda International Airport), and made remarks to service members.
He played golf with PM Abe and professional golfer, Mr. Hideki Matsuyama.
He also had dinner with the First Lady, PM Abe and Mrs. Abe at Ginza Ukai Tei. According to a pool report, they had Hokkaido scallop and Tajima beef steak.
President Trump and the First Lady made a state call with then Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
The President and the First Lady also met with families of North Korean abductees and participate in a state banquet.
New era
Emperor Naruhito ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne after his father’s abdication. It was the first time in more than 200 years a Japanese emperor stepped down.
Japan renames their era when there is a new emperor. Accordingly, when Emperor Naruhito formally ascended to the throne, new era, Reiwa, began.
Best regards,
Taka Abe
Subject: Travel pool report 1: And now, a short flight to the golf course
Tokyo, Japan
Good morning from Tokyo where it’s currently beautiful out: 75 degrees
and sunny. There are throngs of local press lining up outside of the
president’s hotel, plus a large number of uniformed Japanese police
officers.
It should be about 90 degrees later today when POTUS and Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe go for a round of golf in Chiba, Japan. To get to
his golf game, POTUS will take a roughly 30-minute Marine One ride.
It seems that POTUS has been awake for quite awhile after yesterday’s
long trip. Hours ago, he tweeted about the Jussie Smollett case in
Chicago, calling it a “hate crime.”
In another tweet, POTUS also seemed to undercut John Bolton, his
national security advisor, who yesterday told reporters that North
Korea had violated U.N. resolutions by conducting missile tests:
“North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my
people, and others, but not me,” the president tweeted.
He also spelled Joe Biden’s name wrong.
POTUS & pool rolling from RON for the Hardy Barracks landing zone at
8:07 am local time // 7:07 p.m. EST