Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is making arrangements to meet Donald Trump during his visit to New York next week, a source said Friday, a move that comes in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election in November which may lead to the Republican's comeback.
The trip by Aso, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is apparently part of efforts on the Japanese side to brace for the possibility of Trump's second term after he pushed his "America First" policy in his time as president, widely seen as undermining long-standing alliances and multilateralism.
Aso, a House of Representatives member, plans to visit New York from Monday to Thursday, a trip that was approved at a board meeting of the lower house's steering committee.
Aso was a longtime ally of late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who built a personal rapport with Trump.
The veteran Japanese politician, who doubled as deputy prime minister and finance minister under Abe's government, was present when the former Japanese premier met with Trump for summit talks in 2018 in New York.
Aso had sought a meeting with Trump when he visited the United States in January this year and met Sen. William Hagerty, who served as U.S. ambassador to Japan under the Trump administration.
Trump, who was president for four years through January 2021, clinched the Republican presidential nomination in March, setting up a rematch between President Joe Biden, a Democrat, for the White House.
The possible Aso-Trump meeting comes on the heels of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to the United States, during which he met Biden and showcased the robustness of the bilateral alliance.
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