. . ."Donald Trump called the shooting of former Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe “devastating news” after the politicians formed a friendship during his presidency.
“ 'He was a true friend of mine and, much more importantly, America. This is a tremendous blow to the wonderful people of Japan, who loved and admired him so much.”
"Abe was the longest-serving PM in Japan having served between 2006 and 2007 and again between 2012 and 2020, which is when he and Trump struck up a friendship.
Friendship of Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe
"After Trump won the 2016 US presidential election, the pair met on numerous occasions. During Trump’s term, Abe held multiple high-profile summits with Trump and hosted him in Japan twice in 2019 alone. In total, they met 20 times during Trump’s presidency.
"Ayumi Teraoka, a doctoral candidate for security studies at Princeton University, told CSIS: “No foreign leader has closer ties with president Donald Trump than prime minister Shinzo Abe.”
"Abe was the first foreign minister to meet with Trump. The pair met in Trump Tower, New York, for a meeting that lasted 90 minutes, according to the BBC. They had their first official meeting at the White House in February 2017, when Trump confirmed his commitment to “defending Japan”.
"In 2020, Reuters reported that during a telephone conversation between the leaders, Trump called Abe the “greatest prime minister in Japan’s history”.
"The history of friendship between the two goes back much further than that.". . .