![](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fcms-image-bucket-production-ap-northeast-1-a7d2.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com%2Fimages%2F0%2F2%2F7%2F5%2F47595720-1-eng-GB%2FAP24114822873161.jpg?width=700&fit=cover&gravity=faces&dpr=2&quality=medium&source=nar-cms)
TOKYO/NEW YORK -- Taro Aso, a former Japanese prime minister, met ex-U.S. President Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday afternoon in an apparent move to build ties with the presumptive Republican Party candidate ahead of November's presidential election.
Ahead of their meeting in Manhattan's Trump Tower, Trump called Aso a "highly respected man in Japan and beyond." The candidate said Japan was a "great country," but reserved his warmest words for late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe: "We loved Shinzo. He was a great, great man."