Rare Contributor
President Donald Trump was under the impression that Japan’s first lady, Akie Abe, couldn’t speak any English because she didn’t say a word in English while seated next to him at a recent dinner. However, a video that’s circulating online shows that Abe is actually quite fluent in Trump’s native language.
Videos by Rare
During an interview with The New York Times, Trump revealed that he sat next to Japan’s first lady at a dinner for world leaders during his trip to Europe last month. He told a reporter for the publication, Maggie Haberman, that Mrs. Abe “doesn’t speak English.”
Trump: So, I was seated next to the wife of Prime Minister Abe [Shinzo Abe of Japan], who I think is a terrific guy, and she’s a terrific woman but doesn’t speak English.
Haberman: Like, nothing, right? Like zero?
Trump: Like, not “hello.”
Haberman: That must make for an awkward seating.
The only problem with Trump’s assertion is that Abe speaks English fluently and even gave a speech in English at the Ford Foundation in 2014, which was recorded and is now circulating.
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Abe also took a tour of a Japanese inspired garden in Delray Beach, Florida, with first lady Melania Trump earlier this year where she was only accompanied by a translator for part of the visit.
A video of the visit shows that, while Abe is accompanied by a translator for portions of the visit, she is also seen talking to Mrs. Trump and listening to the tour guide without a translator present.
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