President Trump said that he feels “very badly” that Japan’s longest-serving prime minister is stepping down from the role.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said that Abe, who announced his resignation the same day, is his friend. He said that the outgoing prime minister loves his country and that he plans to give Abe a call.
“I want to pay my highest respect to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe […] a great friend of mine,” Trump said, according to Reuters. “I just feel very badly about it.”
Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported that the prime minister’s office is arranging a call with Trump for Monday local time. Trump and Abe have enjoyed warm relations since the start of Trump’s presidency in 2017.
Abe, 65, announced his resignation during a Friday news conference in Tokyo and cited health concerns. He has suffered from colitis, an inflammatory bowel syndrome, for years. Abe previously served as prime minister for a year before stepping down in 2007, in part because of the illness. He later became prime minister again in 2012, serving in the role since then.
“Even though there is one year to go in my tenure and there are challenges to be met, I have decided to stand down as prime minister,” Abe said at the news conference.
“For almost eight years, I controlled my chronic disease; however, this year in June, I had a regular checkup, and there was a sign of the disease,” he said. “I need to fight the disease and need to be treated.”
