President Donald Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Monday to hold discussions about Iran, North Korea, trade and other issues.
Trump's meeting with Abe at Akasaka Palace, the Japanese state guest house, came after the U.S. President made history by becoming the first world leader to meet the country's new Emperor Naruhito.
Speaking alongside Abe, Trump said he'd had fun during the first three days of his trip to Japan - which included sumo, golf and the imperial welcome ceremony - but the leaders had to get down to the business of discussing the threat from North Korea and the continuing trade imbalance.
'We've had some great talk on trade, and great talk on North Korea,' Trump said.
Trump noted that the U.S.-Japan relationship had 'never been better'.
President Donald Trump meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Akasaka Palace, Japanese state guest house in Tokyo on Monday
'We have a situation where we have the best relationship that we've ever had with Japan, and we're going to keep it that way,' Trump said.
'I feel that we understand each other right.'
He said he backed Abe's interest in using his country's good relations with Iran to help broker a possible dialogue between the U.S. and its nemesis in the Middle East.
Trump, who has said he's open to having a dialogue with Iran, has sought to downplay fears of military conflict, but the Iranians have said they have no interest in communicating with the White House.
'I know that the prime minister and Japan have a very good relationship with Iran so we'll see what happens,' Trump said.
'The prime minister's already spoken to me about that and I do believe that Iran would like to talk. And if they'd like to talk, we'd like to talk also. We'll see what happens... nobody wants to see terrible things happen, especially me.'
Speaking alongside Abe, Trump said he'd had fun during the first three days of his trip to Japan - which included sumo, golf and an imperial welcome ceremony
Trump and Abe shake hands before their working lunch at Akasake Palace in Tokyo on Monday
Trump has imposed tough new sanctions on Iran, which are crippling its economy. Late last week, he announced the deployment of 1,500 U.S. troops to the region amid escalating tensions. The U.S. earlier deployed an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf in response to intelligence of Iranian threats to U.S. interests in the region.
As he sat with Abe, Trump noted the significance of his earlier meeting with the new emperor. Naruhito took the throne after his father stepped down, the first abdication in Japan's royal family in about two centuries.
Of the meeting, Trump said: 'It's a very important thing, not only in Japan, but all over the world they're talking about it.
'(It) was a great honor. That's a big thing - 202 years, that's the last time this has happened - It's a big thing.'
It was Abe, not the emperor, who invited the president - a move meant to curry favor with the
