Trump, Abe news conference - live updates
1:37 p.m. The press conference has ended.
1:34 p.m. Mr. Trump said he had a “very, very good conversation yesterday with the president of China.”
“It was a very, very warm conversation,” he said. “I think we are on the process of getting along very well...we had a very, very good talk last night. It was a long talk.”
The president said “we’ll have an incentive-based policy” for tax reform and said he’s working with Republican leadership in Congress on a plan.
1:30 p.m. The president said that ever since he won the election last November, he said he’s been telling many companies to come back into the U.S.
“They’ve been coming back in,” he said, adding that “big announcements will be made” soon. “We are a nation of tremendous potential.”
1:22 p.m. A reporter from the New York Post asked Mr. Trump what he thought about the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling to maintain the stay on his travel ban and whether he has plans to sign new executive actions like a new travel ban.
The president criticized the reporter for asking a question that’s unrelated to the press conference.
“We are going to keep our country safe. We are going to do whatever is necessary to keep our country safe,” he said, adding that he will be doing “something” that would involve “additional security for our country” that will be unveiled “sometime next week.”
“I have no doubt that we’ll win that particular case,” Mr. Trump said about the case winding its way through the court system.
The president added that his administration will continue to pursue extreme vetting, and will “not allow people into our country who are looking to do harm to our people.”
Abe was also asked about Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and he said they will continue to develop and grow their trading relationship and create a common set of rules for a free trade regime.
1:09 p.m. The press conference has begun and President Trump said that the friendship between the U.S. and Japan “runs very, very deep.” He said that the administration is committed to “bringing those ties even closer” and committed to the security of Japan and “strengthening our very crucial alliance.”
Mr. Trump called their relationship the cornerstone of “peace and stability” in the Pacific region. He said he would pursue a trading relationship that’s “fair, free and reciprocal” and to work on deterring the nuclear threat from North Korea.
Abe said that Mr. Trump is an “excellent businessman,” but has never served in public office. At the same time, he said he fought an uphill struggle and fight to win the 2016 presidential election. Abe spoke about their security challenges and even described a high-speed train that could connect Washington, D.C. to New York in an hour.
Abe said he’s looking forward to spending the weekend with Mr. Trump in Florida to play golf together, but admitted that his golf skills are not up to his level.
11:20 a.m. President Trump will be holding a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the White House’s East Room at 1 p.m. following a bilateral meeting between the two leaders. Abe was one of several leaders Mr. Trump spoke to by phone a few weekends ago. They are set to have a working luncheon after the press conference.
Trump/Abe meeting schedule:
- 10 a.m. Honor cordon
- 12 p.m. Oval Office meeting
- 1 p.m. Joint press conference: WATCH LIVE on CBSN
- The Abes will go with Trump to Mar-a-Lago. They’ll have dinner there and the president and Abe will play a round of golf Saturday
The visit from Abe comes before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to visit the White House on Monday, followed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.
