Akie Abe, wife of the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is scheduled to visit President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion on Sunday, multiple reports said on Thursday and Friday. .
Abe, who served as prime minister during President Trump's first term, became the first world leader to meet with Trump after his victory in the 2016 presidential election. The two developed a close friendship, with Abe often cited as the head of world government. Most accessed to Trump. Akie Abe and first lady Melania Trump also had a close relationship, sharing the responsibilities of being the first ladies of both countries and regularly getting engaged whenever their husbands met.
Reuters reportedAnonymous sources said on Friday that the Trumps invited Mrs. Akie to dinner at Mar-a-Lago and that she would apparently attend with Melania Trump on Sunday. CNN originally reported that the Trumps continued to invest in their relationship with Akie Abe even after her husband's death, with the president-elect regularly calling his widow to check on her welfare in the two years after Shinzo Abe's murder. He pointed out the details that he had done. .
Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun Also reportedCiting independent sources, reported that Akie Abe is “preparing to visit the United States.” The paper reported that the former first lady is planning a meeting with Melania Trump, which could include meeting the president-elect.
U.S. First Lady Melania Trump (left) and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife Akie look at the carp in a pond in the Japanese-style annex of the State Guest House in Tokyo on Monday, May 27, 2019. (Tomohiro Osumi/Pool Photo via AP)
Prime Minister Abe, a conservative and one of the most powerful politicians in Japan's modern history, ultimately resigned from office, citing health problems. The politician suffers from ulcerative colitis and said at the time of his resignation that he did not have sufficient control over his condition to be able to fulfill his duties as prime minister.
When he was assassinated in broad daylight in July 2022, he appeared to be preparing for a return to politics, supporting the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on the campaign trail. The perpetrator was identified as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, who said: He was seeking revenge on the controversial Unification Church, which he claimed stole money from his mother, but Abe found himself without enough security around him to keep him alive. , was the closest person with significant connections to the church. target.
Akie Abe was a highly visible figure during Abe's tenure as prime minister. While supporting her husband and making her presence felt on the campaign trail, the first lady also asserted her own political views, which often differed from those promoted by the Liberal Democratic Party. For example, Prime Minister Abe participated in a gay rights march in 2014 in support of eliminating social prejudice against gay and lesbian people.
Akie Abe has also publicly participated in events that appear to express condolences for Imperial Japan's position vis-à-vis the United States. For example, in 2016, Prime Minister Abe visited U.S. Prime Minister Akie Abe made a personal visit to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to pay respects to the American soldiers who died in the surprise attack on Japan that marked the beginning of America's involvement in World War II.
“I know there are different debates and positions about Pearl Harbor, but I think we have to move beyond feelings of hatred and anger and pass on our memories to the next generation,” she said at the time. Ta.
The visit was notable because Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was a vocal supporter of amending Japan's constitution to allow for the country's military, something Japanese pacifists have long opposed.
Akie Abe has often been jokingly even referred to as Japan's true “opposition party,” but both parties maintain a united front, especially given that organizing by Japan's leftist groups has been ineffective for years. and supported each other.
Reports of an invitation to President-elect Trump and the possibility of a direct meeting have caused some stir in Japan, as current Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has made numerous attempts to meet with President Trump to no avail. Ishiba is a member of Prime Minister Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, but his popularity is low and the party is in tatters, hurt by corruption scandals and growing hostility towards the Unification Church, which has been linked to the Liberal Democratic Party and has been in the public eye since Abe's assassination. It became.
Mr. Ishiba met with Mr. Trump immediately after the presidential election in November, but the meeting did not take place. Ishiba claimed Although President Trump was told he could not legally meet with foreign leaders until after he was inaugurated, he did meet Argentine President Javier Milei, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and others at the Notre Dame Cathedral reopening ceremony. He said he has held multiple such talks, including with several world leaders. In Paris.
