Despite the best efforts of legacy media to portray President-elect Donald Trump as "literally Hitler," the true character of the man can often be found in his more private moments at Mar-a-Lago, AKA "the southern White House."
Such was the case this past weekend when the Trumps welcomed the widow of the late Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, to Mar-a-Lago. Melania Trump tweeted out a picture from the occasion:
Few other details of the dinner have emerged, but what is coming to light is the fact that Donald Trump has kept in regular contact with the Mrs. Abe since the 2022 assassination of her husband.
Here's the full text of Kaitlan Collins's tweets from last week regarding the pending meeting:
Trump is set to have a private dinner this Sunday with Akie Abie, the widow of the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a person familiar says. The dinner will take place at Mar-a-Lago and Melania Trump is expected to attend. Trump and Mrs. Abe have maintained a close relationship ever since her husband was assassinated two years ago while delivering a political speech in his home country.
And here's the part that most in the media would not want you to know:
Trump regularly calls Mrs. Abe to check in on her, a source close to the president-elect confirmed, and the dinner was scheduled through direct conversations between the two, not government channels, as is often the case with diplomatic figures.
President Trump and Prime Minister Abe formed a close friendship during Trump's first term. In fact, Abe was the first foreign official to meet with Trump after his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton. According to one report, "The Japanese leader visited him at the White House and even played a round of golf with him at Mar-a-Lago. Shinzo gifted a gold-plated golf club to Trump during their first meeting."
That first meeting set the tone for an alliance that lasted that entire first term, and Trump offered his condolences after learning of Abe's murder.
“Few people know what a great man and leader Shinzo Abe was, but history will teach them and be kind. He was a unifier like no other, but above all, he was a man who loved and cherished his magnificent country, Japan,” he wrote. “Shinzo Abe will be greatly missed. There will never be another like him!”
President-elect Trump's meeting with Mrs. Abe came right on the heels of his triumphant appearance at Saturday's Army-Navy game. It's these kinds of moments that show Donald Trump isn't your dime-a-dozen politician who glad hands people in order to get something he wants. His actions are those of someone who genuinely cares for people, and it's that kind of authenticity — and those kinds of ideals — that Americans voted to return to the White House.
Donald Trump's second inauguration will be held January 20, 2025.