FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose for a photo prior to their meeting at Akasaka Palace, Japanese state guest house, in Tokyo on May 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
OAN NEWSROOM
UPDATED 7:39 PM PT – Saturday, July 9, 2022
Former President Trump announced his intent to attend the funeral of his close friend and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after he was assassinated during a campaign speech.
“We’re going to see how it goes,” Trump stated. “We’re talking to their family. We love the family. His wife is a phenomenal woman. He is so loved in Japan, I can imagine that is going to be an incredible celebration of life. He was just very special. Every aspect of that man was just very special.”
Shinzo Abe and President Trump feeding fish. pic.twitter.com/HYLVNqd71I
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 8, 2022
Abe, 67, was gunned down in broad daylight whereas making a speech forward of Japan’s Upper House elections on Sunday. The incident was surprising given Japan’s strict gun legal guidelines and very low charge of gun violence in the nation.
Trump reminisced on his friendship with the former prime minister at a Nevada rally on Friday. He expressed his appreciation to Abe for being the first foreign leader to acknowledge his win in 2020. The two leaders shared numerous phone calls, visits to each others nations and several golf games.
“He was a great man,” he voiced. “He was a great leader. He loved his country and he loved our country. We did incredible deals together. We made a new deal with Japan. Japan had a one-sided deal and he brought back some fairness because we had just a terrible group of trade deals with Japan. We renegotiated it. He was a real friend of mine. He really was a distinguished, incredible person.”
Trump also called for a “steep price” to be paid by the gunman who killed Abe. Trump called Abe’s death “bad news for the world.”
“We have some very good leaders now in Japan who really were put in place to a certain extent by Shinzo,” he said. “You know, Shinzo gave the blessing to your leaders right now. But to lose him is very hard to ever make up. He was really unique.”
Donald Trump on the assassination of Shinzo Abe:
“His assassination is not only a grievous atrocity, it is a devastating loss for the entire world. We will miss him greatly.”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 9, 2022
President Trump said he will continue to praise Abe for his commitment to his people.