Trump-Abe Press Conferece

Notes from Daniel Dale Twitter.

Abe praises Trump's tax cuts, says they have allowed Japanese investors in the US to be "gaining momentum."

That ought to sit well with Trump supporters.

Trump on the state of affairs with regard to North Korea: "It's a historic moment, and possibly beyond that, if it works out properly."

Beyond history?

Trump gives the first question to the New York Times's @MarkLandler.

New game plan?

Unprompted, Trump heaps praise upon China's Xi, says Xi has done for the Trump-era US more than what any other Chinese leader has done for any other US administration.

??

Trump on the Kim meeting: "If I think that it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we're not going to go. If the meeting when I'm there is not fruitful, I will respectfully leave the meeting...I like always remaining flexible."

Nobody is more flexible, believe me.

Trump falsely claims again that Moon said "the Olympics would have been a total failure" if not for Trump. Moon did not go nearly that far.

Again with the Olympics.

Trump's accounting of the state of the U.S. solar industry is fantastically inaccurate. In like five different ways.

Most notably, Trump keeps wrongly claiming that two solar companies were near-dead and are now, thanks to his tariffs, building 7-plus plants. One of these two is still bankrupt and not doing anything; one is merely hiring 200 people at its one plant.

Trump boasts that African-American and Hispanic unemployment are at the lowest level "in the history of our country." That's likely not true - it's at the lowest level since the government started separately reporting that data in the 1970s.

Was there a theme to this presser? Other than the usual, "Ain't I wonderful?" theme of everything Trump does?

Trump gives a second question to a legit outlet! The excellent @JenniferJJacobs asks him if he's decided against removing Mueller and Rosenstein. Trump: "There was no collusion, and that's been so found..."

[...]

Trump's final non-answer on Mueller and Rosenstein: "They've been saying I'm going to get rid of them for the last three months. Four months, five months. And they're still here. So we want to get the investigation over with."

I think that's what everybody's concerned about.

Trump falsely claims trade deficit with Japan is "anywhere from $69 billion to $100 billion."

It's $69 billion if you only count goods trade. Including services, the net deficit is $56 billion. There are no numbers under which it's even close to $100 billion.

AT least he's talking about Japan.

Trump says nobody has been tougher on Russia than he has been: "There has been nobody tougher than me.

So he keeps saying.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.