Ishiba May Visit U.S. Early Next Month for 1st Summit with Trump

   Tokyo, Jan. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba may visit the United States in early February for his first meeting with Donald Trump, who will take the oath as U.S. president next week, Japanese government sources said Tuesday.
   The Japan-U.S. summit could take place in early February at earliest or in the middle of the month at latest, a government official said after Ishiba told reporters the previous day that Tokyo and Washington were in the final phase of arranging the meeting.
   According to people familiar with the matter, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will attend Trump's inauguration on Monday. He hopes to have talks with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Trump's pick for secretary of state, to pave the way for the bilateral summit.
   In a related development in Florida on Monday, Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano, who is set to become the country's new security adviser a week later, held talks with Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Florida), who will be Okano's U.S. counterpart.
   "It would be possible for Ishiba to visit the United States in the first half of next month" because deliberations in Japan's parliament on the government's fiscal 2025 budget bill will climax in the latter half of the month, a source close to the prime minister said.

(2025/01/14-22:07)

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