New Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s first one-on-one telephone talks with U.S. President Donald Trump went without a hitch Sunday evening, but the Japanese leader is expected to face a number of challenges in the run-up to the Nov. 3 American presidential election.
The U.S.-Japan security alliance topped the agenda in the 25-minute talks, during which Suga told Trump the two allies’ relationship was the “cornerstone of peace and stability in the region,” the prime minister told reporters Sunday after the talks.
According to Suga, Trump said that should anything happen, the Japanese prime minister could call him, anytime — “24 hours a day.”