Trump: ‘samurai’ Japan will shoot down North Korean missiles after buying new weapons from US
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will “shoot them out of the sky when he completes the purchase of lots of additional military equipment”, US president declared
US President Donald Trump on Monday said “samurai” Japan will soon have the capability to shoot down North Korean weapons, once it has bought “massive amounts of military equipment” from Washington. Standing next to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump promised to work in solidarity with Japan to confront “the North Korean menace”.
At an afternoon news conference with Abe in Tokyo, Trump declared, “the era of strategic patience is over”, and promised to counter “the dangerous aggressions” of the country led by Kim Jong-un, who the president has repeatedly called “Rocket Man”.
“The regime continues development of its unlawful weapons programmes, including its illegal nuclear tests and outrageous launches of ballistic missiles directly overly Japanese territory,” Trump said. “We will not stand for that.”
In his own remarks, Abe affirmed Trump’s stance, saying Japan supports the president’s previous comments that “all options are on the table” and similarly favours an approach of increasing pressure on North Korea rather than continuing dialogue with the nation.
Responding to a question – directed at Abe – about news reports that Trump had previously suggested to the Japanese prime minister that the “samurai” nation should have simply shot down the North Korean missiles that flew over it before crashing into the Pacific Ocean earlier this year, the president answered instead on Abe’s behalf.