“Not A Candidate” DeSantis Visits Japanese PM In Tokyo

April 24, 2023 Politics, Republicans

The Washington Post reports:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida here on Monday and praised Japan’s efforts to bolster its defense spending, in the first leg of the likely GOP presidential contender’s trip this week to four of the biggest U.S. allies.

The tour is officially billed as an “international trade mission” with Enterprise Florida, an economic development organization in Florida, to build economic ties between the state and Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom.

But it is also widely viewed as the governor’s effort to burnish his foreign policy credentials ahead of a potential 2024 presidential bid.

The New York Times reports:



“I’m a big supporter of the U.S.- Japan alliance,” Mr. DeSantis, standing beside his wife, Casey DeSantis, said in brief remarks to reporters in Tokyo after a 30-minute meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. “I think Japan’s been a heck of an ally for our country, and I think a strong Japan is good for America, and I think a strong America is good for Japan.”

Mr. DeSantis’s comments appeared to depart from the stance taken by Donald J. Trump, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination. Before becoming president in 2017, Mr. Trump attacked Japan over its trade policy and accused it of exploiting its military alliance with the United States to protect itself at low risk and minimal cost.

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