日本首相安倍：我对川普很有信心

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calls U.S. President-elect Donald Trump a leader in whom he can have "great confidence."

Abe is the first world leader to meet with Trump after he won the U.S. presidential election. The two met at the Trump Tower in New York. "I do believe that without confidence between the two nations, the alliance would never function in the future and as the outcome of today's discussion, I am convinced Mr. Trump is a leader in whom I can have great confidence," the Japanese official said.

Abe said he and Trump talked about basic issues, but gave no details. Trump did not comment on the meeting.

During his campaign, Trump questioned several bedrocks of the U.S.-Japanese relationship, suggesting that the U.S. was doing too much to provide defense to Japan. He floated the idea of allowing Japan and others in the region nuclear weapons and forcing higher payments to support the deployment of U.S. forces in those countries.

The U.S. has about 53,000 military personnel based in Japan along with 43,000 dependent family members and 5,000 Defense Department civilian employees.

Supporters of the defense alliance argue that beyond the benefits to Japan, there are strategic gains for the U.S. by having its forces deployed in that part of the world.

Trump also opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement -- a deal that Japan supports.

Trump spent most of Thursday with his transition team, making plans for his new administration, as well as listening to advice from such veteran diplomats as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Trump says he has tremendous respect for Kissinger and said they talked about such major issues as China, Russia and Iran. He also met with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a possible choice for secretary of state.

The transition team also announced that Trump would meet Saturday with former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor was a vocal critic of Trump and held a press conference earlier this year, where he said "dishonesty is Trump's hallmark." The two were to discuss the transition operations as well as the possibility that Romney was being considered as a candidate for secretary of state.