Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Abe of Japan Before Bilateral Meeting

Lotte New York Palace Hotel New York, New York

1:34 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s wonderful to have Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — doing a wonderful job, doing a great job for the people of Japan.

We have had numerous discussions already today, and this is a formalization of the discussions. We’ve made a lot of progress, both on trade and obviously, very importantly, we’ve discussed in great detail North Korea — with also South Korea as you just saw.

So we will continue the dialogue. The relationship has never been closer, I believe, with Japan and the United States, and it will continue onward that way. I look forward to discussing some things that the group is here specifically to discuss. And we’ll be reporting back to you later.

So thank you all very much. You heard about China; you heard what China was doing today, in terms of the banking system. That was a tremendous move, and we have great respect. And we also would like to thank President Xi of China. So that was a great thing he did today.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much for being here.

PRIME MINISTER ABE: (As interpreted.) At the outset of today’s summit meeting, I’d like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Donald.

First of all, in your remarks to the U.N. General Assembly, you touched on Ms. Megumi Yokota, one of the Japanese abductees. For the parents of her, as well as the family members of those who have been abducted by North Korea, your message was very, very encouraging, and I do appreciate your message.

So for us, the key is to change the course of action, as well as policy of North Korea. And in that context, dialogue for the sake of dialogue would not produce anything.

The key at this moment is to exercise and apply pressure against North Korea in a robust manner. And together with Donald, we’ve been successfully demonstrating our strong will to exercise pressure against North Korea. And that actually led to the unification of the international community to address this challenge.

So I certainly look forward to making every effort with you, and also with other members of the international community, to achieve the denuclearization of North Korea.

So today, I very much look forward to deepening our discussion with a focus on the issue of North Korea and, also, other issues. And by doing that, I certainly hope to further solidify our alliance and partnership.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you.

END 1:38 P.M. EDT