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The man accused of fatally shooting former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pleaded guilty on Tuesday as the country’s new prime minister hosted President Donald Trump.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, appeared in court as Trump was in the country to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is widely described as an ideological heir to Abe, someone Trump frequently praises. Takaichi aligns with the late former prime minister’s push to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution and boost the country’s defense capabilities.
On Monday, Trump said he heard that Takaichi was “a great ally and friend of Shinzo Abe, who was my friend.”
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Yamagami pleaded guilty to the charges read by prosecutors, The Associated Press reported, citing broadcaster NHK. Multiple outlets reported that Yamagami was wearing a black shirt and gray pants and had his hair tied back.
“It is all true. There is no doubt that I have done all this,” Yamagami said when a judge at the Nara District Court asked him to enter a plea, The Japan Times reported. The outlet added that the suspect said he would consult with his attorneys regarding legal matters.
The AP reported that Yamagami is accused of fatally shooting Abe with a homemade firearm as the former prime minister gave a speech due to a grudge against the controversial Unification Church, which he believed was linked to Abe as well as other politicians.
While Yamagami pleaded guilty, his attorneys reportedly objected to details of the charges against him. The Japan Times reported that lawyers argued the homemade gun he used should not be considered a firearm under Japanese law at the time of the shooting. The law was amended after Abe’s assassination.
Yamagami allegedly told officials that his mother made massive donations to the church, leading to the family’s financial collapse, according to the AP. The Unification Church was founded in South Korea one year after the Korean War ended in 1953.
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The trial is taking place in the western city of Nara and is set to finish in mid-December, according to the AP, which cited Kyodo news agency.
Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister since World War II. When Abe was assassinated in 2022, Trump put out a statement declaring it was “really bad news for the world.”
“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. Shinzo Abe will be greatly missed. There will never be another like him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in 2022.
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Upon his arrival in Japan on Monday, Trump offered words of praise for Takaichi, 64, who is Japan’s first female prime minister. She came to power earlier this month after the resignation of former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba following the Liberal Democratic Party’s loss of its upper-house majority in July.
Trump walked away from the Japan leg of his Asia trip with signed trade and rare earths deals, ushering in what he and Takaichi said would be the “golden age” of U.S.-Japan relations. He told Takaichi that the U.S. would be there for “anything you want, any favors you need, anything… to help Japan,” the BBC reported.
While addressing U.S. troops aboard the USS George Washington at Japan’s Yolosuka Naval Base, Trump said that the first batch of missiles for Japan’s F-35 fighter jets “will arrive this week.”
Trump praised the U.S. alliance with Japan, calling it “one of the most remarkable relationships in the entire world.”
Takaichi, sharing the stage with Trump, said Japan is “committed to fundamentally reinforcing its defense capability” and “ready to contribute even more proactively to peace and stability in the region.”
Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
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