Ishiba to use Abe‘s strategy to win over Trump

Feb 07, 2025, 06:10 am

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Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, right, heads to the United States ahead of President Donald Trump’s, left, second summit with a foreign leader since his return to the White House. \| Photo: AFP, Yonhap News

Washington correspondent Ha Man-joo

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is preparing for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump based on former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's strategic approach, according to a report by Nikkei on Thursday.

In 2016, shortly after the U.S. presidential election, then-Prime Minister Abe was the first world leader to meet with then-President-elect Trump at Trump Tower in New York. Abe memorized extensive anticipated questions and answers for various policies, prepared charts explaining Japan's investment in the U.S., and even studied Trump's personality and behavioral principles.

Likewise, Prime Minister Ishiba is reportedly preparing for a summit with President Trump at the White House on Friday by following a similar approach. During a budget committee meeting in the House of Representatives on Monday, Ishiba said about President Trump, "I heard he surprisingly listens well to other people's opinions, so we might have good chemistry. We won't know until we try, but I want to make a good effort."

Nikkei reported that Ishiba's remarks came after repeated meetings with senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, analyzing personality traits based on Abe's response strategy.

During his tenure, Abe was advised by personality analysis experts to understand President Trump's tendencies with tips like "Do not refute Trump's statements," "Approach his interests thoroughly," and "Share your background story." He used this understanding to prepare for the summit, adapting to Trump's unpredictable "Trump Style" by memorizing anticipated questions and answers on various issues such as the economy, diplomacy, and defense. These updates continued even on his private jet, according to Nikkei.

This approach contrasts with then-President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, who read prepared materials verbatim in front of President Trump.

Abe also considered Trump's hobbies and prepared a gold golf club as a gift.

Their first meeting left a positive impression on each other, leading to a close relationship where they addressed each other by their first names, "Shinzo" and "Donald." In February 2017, during their first official summit, they moved from the White House to Trump's estate at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, to play golf together.

During their overlapping terms, spanning 3 years and 8 months, Abe visited the U.S. seven times, and Trump visited Japan three times. They held 14 face-to-face summits, had 36 telephone discussions, and played golf five times, showcasing their bromance.

Abe made efforts to explain Japan's contributions to the U.S. by showing maps and charts indicating how Japan's investments and local employment had increased since the last summit, in an attempt to avoid President Trump's excessive demands on tariffs, according to Nikkei.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also has reportedly been diligently preparing for anticipated questions, such as "Isn't Japan's increase in defense spending insufficient?" and "Won't Japan reconsider blocking Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel?", according to Nikkei, citing a senior official in the Ishiba administration who is involved in the preparations for the U.S.-Japan summit. For the past week, he has practiced daily, significantly improving his readiness and response quality.

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