(New York) Donald Trump received former Japanese leader Taro Aso in New York on Tuesday, according to his campaign team, as part of the shadow diplomacy led by the Republican candidate for the US presidential election in November.
The two men met at Trump Tower, one of the properties of the former United States president and real estate mogul, currently on trial in New York.
“He is a very respected man in Japan and beyond, someone I appreciated and knew,” said Donald Trump upon receiving Taro Aso, according to a video posted on social networks by his campaign team.
“We like each other and we’re going to talk about Japan and the United States today and a lot of other things,” he added.
The Republican strives – when he is not in court – to carry out shadow diplomacy, exchanging with foreign officials and criticizing the policies of President Joe Biden, his rival for the November election.
In recent weeks, he has received the head of British diplomacy David Cameron, Polish President Andrzej Duda as well as Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.
A close ally of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Taro Aso is still considered a heavyweight within the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party.
Without directly mentioning his meeting with the Japanese official, Donald Trump got carried away Tuesday morning over the exchange rate between the yen and the dollar. The Japanese currency recently fell to its lowest level against the dollar in almost 34 years.
“To stupid people it seems like a good thing, but it’s a disaster for our manufacturers,” he said on Truth Social.