U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday basked in the spotlight of his first state visit to Japan, taking in sumo matches and presenting the champion with a massive President's Cup after hitting the links earlier in the day with golfing buddy Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and confirming that he would not press the Japanese leader on a trade deal — for now.
Smiling and waving before the roughly 11,500 fans who had crowded into the hallowed Ryogoku Kokugikan, where security was intense, Trump became the first U.S. president to attend such a sumo tournament and, at the end, to step into the ring and present a cup.
Seated on a special sofa-like chair that officials said was to provide him with back support — breaking the custom of sitting cross-legged on a mat — Trump watched five bouts and then, wearing slippers, joined Abe to climb a small portable staircase to enter the dohyō (sumo ring). Inside, he gave a short bow and, grinning widely, presented the 30-kg, 1.4-meter-tall trophy topped with a bald eagle, the U.S. national bird, and with his name emblazoned on its base to the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament champion, rank-and-filer Asanoyama, who had clinched the title Saturday.