Former Prime Minister Taro Aso held talks with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday evening, as Japan scrambles to cover all of its bases in the event of the ex-president’s return to the White House.

Trump, escorting Aso into Trump Tower ahead of the talks, said it was a "great honor” to meet with the Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight, according to a video posted on social media by the former president’s aides.

“He is a highly respected man in Japan and beyond, somebody that I've liked and I've known through a very dear friend ... Shinzo,” Trump said of Aso, referencing the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "We like each other and we'll be talking about Japan and the United States right now and lots of other things also.”

Following the roughly hourlong meeting, the Trump campaign said a number of shared security and economic concerns had been on the agenda.

“The two discussed the enduring importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance to both countries’ physical and economic security and to stability in the Indo-Pacific,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. “They also discussed challenges posed by China and North Korea. President Trump praised Japan’s increased defense spending.”

The statement indicated that Aso had likely emphasized ostensibly pacifist Japan’s push to double defense spending by 2027 in a bid to preemptively counter Trump’s well-documented view that Japan, which hosts some 54,000 U.S. troops, is not paying its fair share to defend itself.

Asked if he had any message to Japan ahead of the talks, however, Trump focused on Abe, who was gunned down in broad daylight in a brazen July 2022 assassination.

“It’s a great country, you’re doing very well,” he said. “Shinzo was a great friend of mine, he was truly a great man and somebody that we all respected. ... I miss him greatly. But we really admire the people of Japan.“

The visit by Aso, who is the deputy head of the ruling LDP, highlighted behind-the-scenes moves by Tokyo to cultivate ties with the Trump camp ahead of November’s U.S. presidential election.

Tokyo is widely believed to be viewing the possible reelection of Trump with concern, considering the former president’s unorthodox approach to foreign and economic policy, his disdain for U.S. alliances and the absence of any apparent “Trump whisperers” following Abe’s death.

Abe was the first foreign leader to meet Trump following his stunning election in 2016, and worked tirelessly to cultivate a strong friendship with the then-U.S. president during the two leaders’ overlapping terms in office. Aso served as deputy prime minister and finance minister throughout that same period, and accompanied Abe during many of his interactions with Trump.

Highlighting Tokyo’s concerns, Trump erupted with fury on social media about the exchange rate between the yen and the dollar ahead of his talks with Aso, after the dollar hit a 34-year high against the Japanese currency on Monday.

"It sounds good to stupid people, but it is a disaster for our manufacturers and others," he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social hours before meeting Aso, whom he did not mention.

The meeting — which took place after a hearing in Trump’s trial in New York on charges of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to a porn star to quell claims of a sexual liaison — was heavily publicized on his campaign’s social media feeds.

But it was also seen as something of a slap in the face to Trump’s election rival, U.S. President Joe Biden.

Less than two weeks ago, Biden pulled out all the stops for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s state visit to Washington, with the trip culminating in the two leaders heralding a "new era" for the U.S.-Japan alliance.

The Japanese government’s top spokesman on Wednesday played down the Aso-Trump meeting as one conducted "in the capacity of one lawmaker" and “without the government’s involvement,” while also touting the fruits of the Kishida-Biden summit.

Asked if Kishida or other members of the government had been consulted or informed by Aso about the meeting with Trump in advance, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi appeared to dodge the question.

“We are not involved as a government — we do not believe that we are in a position to answer questions about the activities of an individual lawmaker, including whether or not there has been any communication between the prime minister and a lawmaker,” Hayashi said.

Queried further whether the Japanese foreign minister or another Cabinet member could meet Trump, Hayashi said there were no plans "at this point."

The meeting was reportedly Aso’s second attempt to hold talks with Trump, after he failed to secure a meeting during a previous visit to the United States in January.

Tuesday’s meeting comes as the Japanese public braces for the possible return of Trump amid his improving political fortunes in polls, with a new phrase — hobotora — meaning "likely Trump," emerging in the Japanese lexicon to replace moshitora, or "possibly Trump."

Staff writer Gabriele Ninivaggi contributed to this report