Trump complained about security pact since first meeting: Abe

July 4, 2019

Tokyo--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed complaints about the bilateral security treaty since their first meeting in November 2016.

"Trump talked a lot about the Japan-U.S. security treaty since we first met," Abe said on television. "Since then, I've explained that the United States also benefits significantly from the Japan-U.S. alliance," he said.

"Trump has repeated that claim, but I've always argued against that," Abe said. "Trump once called me a genius in making counterarguments," he said.

At a press conference in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday, Trump said the security treaty is "an unfair agreement." "I've told him that for the last six months," Trump said of Abe. Jiji Press