US President Donald Trump said he could know by the end of a bilateral meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe whether their two countries will secure a new trade deal.
"It’s a major deal with Japan, if it gets done, we’ll possibly know by the end of this meeting," Trump said ahead of a bilateral meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Biarritz, southwestern France.
Trump and Abe displayed their differences over the seriousness of North Korea’s series of short-range missile launches on Sunday, while maintaining that they would remain in synch on the issue.
Trump, who prizes his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the launches did not violate an agreement and were in line with what others were doing.
Abe said the launches violated U.N. resolutions.
Launches of short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday were the seventh by North Korea since Trump and Kim met at the inter-Korean border in June.
The launches have complicated attempts to restart talks between U.S. and North Korean negotiators over the future of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
