Trump, Abe set to meet next week

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President-elect Donald Trump are expected to meet next week in New York, according to media reports.

Abe and Trump spoke on the phone Thursday and agreed to a meeting on Nov. 17 to discuss the long-standing alliance between two of the world’s largest economies.

{mosads}The Japanese leader’s meeting with a new U.S. president before being inaugurate is unusual, media reports noted.

The two leaders will have several hot topics on the table to discuss, including the future of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which President Obama had hoped to pass through Congress before leaving office. 

But the TPP’s chances sank with Trump’s election on Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saying on Wednesday that the sweeping Pacific deal wouldn’t get consideration during the lame-duck session. 

Abe, who has touted the benefits of the deal, has said Japan intends to ratify the agreement and has urged the United States to follow suit.

Trump said during the campaign that he would pull the United States out of the deal with 11 other Pacific Rim countries. That suggestion has generated a slew of questions about the economic and political future role of the United States in the region.