Trump Pays Japan’s Abe ‘Highest Respect,’ Plans to Call Him

President Trump said he considered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a great friend and expressed concern over his decision to step down for health reasons

President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in Londonderry, New Hampshire on Aug. 28, 2020. Carlos Barria/Reuters

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE—President Donald Trump said on Friday he considered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a great friend and expressed concern over his decision to step down for health reasons.

“I want to pay my highest respect to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ... a great friend of mine,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “I just feel very badly about it.”