Donald Trump will meet with former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso in New York City on Tuesday, the White House candidate’s aides told AFP.
The two men will meet at Trump Tower, one of the real estate magnate’s properties in New York, where he is currently on trial accused of falsifying business records to cover up an affair with an adult film star.
When he’s not in court, the Republican nominee-in-waiting is busy conducting shadow diplomacy as he campaigns to return to the White House in November’s election.
He has been talking to foreign officials and criticizing the policies of President Joe Biden, his rival who defeated him in 2020.
In recent weeks, Trump has met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.
A close ally of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, Aso is still considered a heavyweight in Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party.
Without directly mentioning his meeting with Aso, Trump raged Tuesday about the exchange rate between the yen and the dollar — with the dollar recently hitting a 34-year high against the Japanese currency.
“It sounds good to stupid people, but it is a disaster for our manufacturers and others,” he said on Truth Social.
