Late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe panned former President Donald Trump's efforts to get a deal with North Korea in a recent, posthumously published book.
Abe recounted how his administration became anxious that North Korea would learn the wrong lessons from Trump's softer approach to the pariah regime, according to the memoir, which was posthumously published this week.
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During preparations for the June 2018 summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore, Abe met with Trump and urged him to demand Kim ditch his nuclear weapons program as a prerequisite for any agreement.
“What Kim Jong Un fears most is having a Tomahawk [missile] suddenly fired at him, and him and his family losing their lives. Only the U.S. can apply pressure involving the use of force," the book said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump's staff mostly appeared to share his assessment, but it wasn't clear that the then-president was getting the message. Former Trump administration officials such as former National Security adviser John Bolton have publicly confirmed their misgivings over Trump's approach to North Korea.
At one point, Trump suggested it would be more cost-effective for the United States to keep its aircraft carrier groups docked, despite his staffers trying to persuade him otherwise, per the book.
“Not just myself but also the U.S. national-security team did all they could to hide Mr. Trump’s instincts,” Abe said, per the book.
“We absolutely couldn’t let the outside world catch wind of it,” Abe added about Trump's dovish approach.
Abe sought to court close ties to Trump during his White House tenure and largely refrained from criticizing him publicly. He ultimately stepped down as prime minister in 2020 after serving since 2012. Abe remained in the Japanese parliament until he was assassinated last July.
The book was compiled based on interviews he gave two reporters between October 2020 and October 2021. His widow gave permission for the publication of the book, according to its introduction.
Ultimately, Pyongyang and Washington failed to cut a deal. Leaders from both countries have not met since the Trump-Kim meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, that took place in 2019.
Despite Trump's concessions, such as scrapping the annual military exercises in South Korea, North Korea declined to relinquish its nuclear firepower and has since ramped up its military weapons testing during the Biden administration.
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In another revelation in the book, Abe recounted how Chinese leader Xi Jinping confided in him that he likely wouldn't have been a member of the Communist Party if he was born in the U.S.
"In other words, he didn’t see any point in a party that doesn’t wield political power,” Abe said in the book, per the Japan Times.