President Donald Trump took a moment out of his whirlwind Japanese trip to connect with nature and feed some fish, but after a few delicate scoops, he resorted to a grand gesture met with some laughter.
The moment happened as Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe headed to lunch. The leaders were escorted to a dining room that overlooks a koi pond ad Akasaka Palace.
Moments later, aides opened two large screen doors and the leaders emerged holding two small wooden boxes filled with fish food.
As an aide clapped loudly, Abe and Trump tossed spoonfuls of fish food into the pond. Then, with a look of enjoyment, Trump quickly poured his entire box of food into the pond.
The move got Trump some laughs, and a smile from Abe, who actually appeared to dump out his box of food ahead of Trump.
The two leaders then sat down for lunch.
Trump was at Tokyo’s Imperial Palace for a greeting with Japan’s 83-year-old Emperor Akihito before settling down for meetings and lunch with Abe, who has become Trump’s closest partner in Asia as he confronts an increasingly hostile North Korea.
The two men spent much of Sunday at informal engagements in and around Tokyo, lunching on hamburgers at an exclusive country club before playing nine holes of golf. In the evening they were joined by their wives for dinner at a high-end eatery in the Ginza district.
In his public appearances so far, Trump has sought to cast himself as a highly successful chief executive, touting the US economy while taking credit for a streak of hiring by American companies.