David Nakamura

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

Ahead of Japan trip, Trump has promoted "the very big event" as "100 times bigger" than the Super Bowl. But he's made no mention of Akihito's abdication or Naruhito's succession to throne. That's because for the promoter-in-chief, the show is about himself https://t.co/UXLO6WXbYN — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@HirokoTabuchi i think it's his version of phonetic spelling — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@HirokoTabuchi He's a very bad speller? https://t.co/huyHSFh8Gb — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

#ff Washington Post’s team with Trump in Japan over the next four days @AshleyRParker @simondenyer to bring you all things Trump, Emperor Naruhito, Reiwa, Sumo, Yokosuka and much more. Ganbatte yo... — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

One possible reason Biden didn’t run in 2016 was grief over death of son Beau. Now Trump allies are attacking his son Hunter’s foreign business entanglements and privately sharing reports of alleged substance abuse. ⁦@mviser⁩ ⁦@AshleyRParker⁩ https://t.co/cGHhLGoocI — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

And a bonus from an aide who wasn’t in previous meeting yesterday but rose to the occasion anyway. https://t.co/nxEUn6Yk09 — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

From the official White House transcript, Trump’s aides doing the boss’s bidding today in the Roosevelt Room on live TV. https://t.co/sqxo3xRg9Z — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

“He always brings them up.” Trump tries to steer border wall deal to North Dakota firm, upending staid government process and alarming government officials. @nickmiroff @jdawsey1 https://t.co/77CnPBiBKm — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@EliStokols I think he meant that the last time there was an abdication by an emperor was 200 years ago. (Except Trump has never used the words "abdication" or "succession" because I don't think he fully understands or has bothered to learn about it.) — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

Trump spoke for 45 minutes at event to announce aid to farmers to offset China trade war, which turned into staff testimonial over Trump's demeanor yesterday and then news conf on Iran, Japan, etc. Farmers join long line of people unwittingly used as background props by Potus. https://t.co/oR2Uy3jIEy — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

I've noticed that today, as in his remarks three weeks ago with @AbeShinzo in the Oval, Trump has touted how big a deal meeting the emperor will be but did not once use the words "abdication or succession." Even as he builds hype, he does not seem to know what it is really about. — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

Trump, asked if he can get a trade deal with Japan to avoid auto tariffs he has threatened, instead boasts that he will be the most important guest in Japan in more than 200 years. This quote reveals clearly why Abe plays constantly percent to Trump's ego. https://t.co/4QX6c6yofw — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@AbeShinzo @simondenyer Also, Japanese, in a society without much immigration, not always animated by issues such as a border wall as Trump critics in other democratic nations. — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@AbeShinzo @simondenyer Some Japanese journalists in Washington told me they are bound by strict company rules on Twitter and don't often retweet Trump. Sometimes they ignore his tweets in news stories because they are difficult to explain but also out of sense of decorum. — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@AbeShinzo @simondenyer Akira Ikegami, who wrote the afterword to Japanese edition of Michael Wolff's best-selling "Fire and Fury," said it didn't sell well in Japan, with a limited public interest in details over the dysfunction in Trump's White House. — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@AbeShinzo @simondenyer Two prominent journalists told us that some Japanese, who toil in such a rigidly mannered society, might privately harbor a touch of envy over Trump's willingness to just say what's on his mind. They find him entertaining and "exciting." — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@AbeShinzo @simondenyer Trump's approval in Japan last year (30%) is far lower than Obama's (78% in '16) but it is higher than GWB's final year (25%) and certainly more robust than with other allies/partners, i.e. Mexico (6%) or France (9%). (Trump's tough China policy is popular in Japan.) — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@AbeShinzo @simondenyer One counterintuitive note: Trump seems to be given a bit of a pass from Japanese who initially were shocked by his election but have grown to view him as avuncular and exhibit perhaps more frustration with Abe's pandering even as they know alliance maintenance is crucial. — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@AbeShinzo I'm intrigued with this Trump trip to Tokyo because much of it is ceremonial and cultural -- emperor, sumo -- and that sets up a potential clash of disciplined, formal Japan v. impetuous, unrestrained Trump, as @simondenyer and I explored today. https://t.co/f6BOecGbRv — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

RT @drewharwell: New: Distorted videos of @SpeakerPelosi, subtly altered to make her sound slurring and warped, are spreading on social med… — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@AbeShinzo I also asked if Trump would make a toast at the emperor's dinner. In 2017, Trump used his toast to poke fun at Abe's eagerness to visit him after he won the election. Japanese official said Trump might make remarks but suggested Potus would be more restrained this time. — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

I asked a Japanese official today if there would be any celebrity guests at state dinner for Trump this weekend as in Nov. 2017 visit when @abeshinzo invited pop star Piko Taro and golfer Isao Aoki. Official said this is Emperor Naruhito's guest list and more serious and formal. — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

Trump will be in Tokyo on Memorial Day. (He'll tour US naval base at Yokosuka that day there to talk with troops.) — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

Another example yesterday of Trump carelessness in flashing his notes to his own embarrassment (he misspells 'accomplishments' here) as I wrote about https://t.co/gZsruklS2N — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

.@GlennThrush to Pelosi: "Can you explain the comment you made about staff making an intervention" on Trump? Pelosi: "Statutory intervention? That would be good. Article 25. That's a good idea. I'll take it up with my caucus, not that they haven't been thinking about it." — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

The @asahi has published 150 “senryu” — haiku-like poems with a cynical tone—on Trump. After Trump said he told Abe he would visit new emperor only if it was a bigger than the Super Bowl, one senryu read: “The boss quickly made a deal after his poochi said, ‘100 times bigger.’” — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

Abe is arranging for Trump and the First Lady to sit in a special chair near the sumo ring, rather than on a traditional cushion on tatami mats or VIP box seating, an unprecedented move that has led some Japanese to describe Trump with the term “wagamama” — or self-indulgent. — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

In Japan, Abe’s decision to leverage time-honored traditions—the emperor and sumo—to impress Trump has caused consternation. The Asahi Shimbun has published “senryu” poems from readers calling Abe “poochi” (dog) and Trump “the boss.” w/⁦@simondenyer⁩ https://t.co/BkXKUcVVgZ — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

@Rschooley @agearan that was a truly epic outburst — PolitiTweet.org

David Nakamura @DavidNakamura

Trump's diatribe today about his confrontation with Pelosi and Schumer was like one of his Twitter outbursts performed live in the Rose Garden, via @agearan https://t.co/kpaIY4E15h — PolitiTweet.org