AP Photo Washington And The World Trump Needs a World Leader Buddy Is Japan’s Shinzo Abe the right man for the job?

TOKYO— When Shinzo Abe tees off with Donald Trump this weekend at the president’s Florida retreat at Mar-a-Lago—the “winter White House,” as Trump’s ·aides call it—he won’t just be shooting the breeze with a fellow golfer. The Japanese prime minister is visiting the United States to reaffirm an enduring alliance that is critical to global stability, and to develop a working rapport with Trump despite the fear America’s new president has stoked in capitals all over the world. In short, Abe is coming to be Trump’s world leader buddy—and we need him to succeed.

The Japanese prime minister might not seem like the obvious choice of friends. But as the second longest serving and domestically most secure leader among the G-7 powers, Abe is now an elder global statesman. During his six years in power, Japan has gotten its swagger back after years of political volatility at home and shrinking ambitions abroad. To put it in Trump’s terms, Abe is a winner, and he’s respected around the globe. As a result, he can help Trump build bridges with some of the world leaders he’s known for years—tough, difficult men like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and India’s Nahendra Modi.


Trump or no Trump, Japan is a natural ally for the United States, and is eager to share more of the global burden for preserving the U.S.-led world order. Trump’s unorthodox rhetoric toward China has set U.S.-Chinese relations off to a tense, awkward start. Japan can help either calm the waters or have America’s back in a crisis, as the situation requires. And unlike European allies such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has made clear her distaste for Trump, Abe has instead chosen to agree to disagree with the new leader of the free world. If Trump’s policy is “America First,” Abe would be happy for Japan to be a close second.

All this comes despite Trump’s wanton destruction of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 11-country trade deal that Abe had made a pillar of his foreign policy and the centerpiece of his plan to contain China. But in November, rather than sulking in Tokyo, Abe rushed to New York to be the first world leader to meet with the newly elected American president, shrewdly recognizing that Trump is a man who appreciates—even needs—face-to-face contact.

U.S.-Japan relations are normally a dull, bureaucratic affair, but Abe has sought to make the two countries’ bond personal—embracing Trump as a kindred spirit, whatever his private reservations. And he’s ingratiated himself with Trump by handing him political wins—investments in the United States by Japanese car companies and offers of joint infrastructure projects—while letting Trump take the credit. Eventually, Abe will need to find other points of contact, whether they be Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross or James Mattis, who visited Tokyo this week on his first international trip as defense secretary. But for now, establishing a warm and trusting friendship is his goal.

Whether by necessity or delusion, Tokyo sees genuine opportunity in America’s real estate mogul-turned-president given that the Japanese archipelago represents the best real estate to contain an expansionist China. As one senior official in the prime minister’s office reiterated to me, it’s all about “location, location, location.” Which is not to say that Abe isn’t hedging his bets. In recent years, Japan has strengthened its ties to India and Australia, while showing new interest in Britain, France and Russia—relationships that could balance out any headaches Trump creates elsewhere for Japan.

Abe’s strategy could certainly backfire. And it’s easy to imagine cultural differences getting in the way of his effort to forge a close relationship with Trump. But Abe is not like previous Japanese prime ministers—whereas they were often colorless and retiring, he’s affable and confident, and has shown a remarkable ability to get along with many of the world’s most powerful and challenging leaders. He also has strong ties on Capitol Hill, where Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Sens. John McCain and Marco Rubio count themselves among his many admirers.

In fact many in Washington, including Democrats, will be rooting for Abe’s success, given the urgent need to find Trump a mentor figure who can help sand off his rough edges and channel his energies in wiser directions. And if the summit goes well, Abe can also serve as a translator and messenger to other world leaders as they adjust to the drastically different style and tone of America’s new president. The free world is counting on it.

Joshua W. Walker is senior vice president at APCO Worldwide and a transatlantic fellow leading the Japan work at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.