Free Republic

WASHINGTON — As Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for a parade of foreign dignitaries in recent weeks, some aides to President Joe Biden took notice — and umbrage — at what they saw as the former president playing pretender-in-chief. In less than two months, Trump has hosted Polish President Andrzej Duda, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and David Cameron, the former British prime minister who now serves as the U.K.’s foreign secretary. He’s also talked with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and others by phone. It’s not unusual for a party...

... The drop in popularity occurred after it was revealed that LDP factions and the individual parliamentarians associated with them had failed to report all revenues from ticket sales at fundraising events. The slush fund, estimated to be millions of dollars, was used for political purposes, violating the Public Funds Control Law. The Public Prosecutors Office has launched investigations into the LDP’s largest and most influential faction, the Seiwakai, commonly referred to as the Abe faction. Reports suggest that four other major factions, including the one led by Kishida, might also be implicated. Kishida has replaced four key cabinet ministers...

Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso sparked outrage Tuesday after suggesting that the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who persecuted millions and sought the extermination of the Jewish people, had the “right motives.” The comment was made in an address to lawmakers of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party to provide an example that politicians are remembered for the results they achieve regardless of their motivations. “Hitler, who killed millions of people, is evil even if his motive was right,” Aso said, as quoted by the Japanese Kyodo news agency. The remarks sparked outrage, and the main opposition Democratic Party questioned his...

Japan’s finance minister, Taro Aso, has courted fresh controversy after expressing admiration for the Nazis, describing Adolf Hitler as “having the right motives”. “Hitler, who killed millions of people, was no good even if his motive was right,” Aso told a meeting of his faction of the governing Liberal Democratic party, according to Jiji Press.

Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso has retracted remarks suggesting that the country could learn from Nazi Germany’s constitutional reform. Mr. Aso said on Monday Japan could “learn the technique” Nazi Germany used to change the Weimar constitution. The remarks come amid debate in Japan over its pacifist constitution, which restricts the military to a self-defense role. …

Public support for Taro Aso, Japan’s prime minister, has fallen sharply since the high-profile resignation of his interior minister laid bare divisions in the ruling Liberal Democratic party. A clutch of opinion polls published by domestic media in recent days suggest the opposition Democratic party of Japan is increasingly well placed to achieve what would be a historic victory over the LDP at a general election, to be held by October. The polls, conducted after the departure last Friday of Kunio Hatoyama, showed marked falls in backing for Mr Aso, who had enjoyed a recovery in support as Japan’s recession-hit...

Taro Aso, a Catholic conservative, takes over as Japan's prime minister with a vow to bolster his country's lackluster economy. The 68-year-old Aso, a former Olympic skeetshooter, is Japan's first Catholic leader.

Ruling party leader Taro Aso was elected Japan's next prime minister Wednesday. Aso, who was chosen president of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday, had already begun piecing together a Cabinet expected to include a fellow outspoken hawk as finance chief. The opposition-controlled upper house voted for Ichiro Ozawa, head of the Democratic Party of Japan, as prime minister. But the more powerful lower chamber voted to override that ballot in favor of Aso. The right-leaning former foreign minister will confront a country wracked by political divisions and concerns over the economy, which has stalled in recent months amid...

Taro Aso, Japan’s former foreign minister, was on Monday night poised to become the country’s fourth prime minister in just over two years after easily winning an election to head the ruling Liberal Democratic party. Mr Aso, 68, beat Kaoru Yosano, the fiscally conservative economics minister, by 351 votes to 66, while Yuriko Koike, the first woman to compete for the job, was a distant third with 46. As leader of the biggest party, Mr Aso will be named prime minister in an extraordinary Diet session on Wednesday. He will succeed Yasuo Fukuda, who abruptly resigned after less than a...

Nobuteru Ishihara, former policy chief for the Liberal Democratic Party, and Minister of Economic and Fiscal Policy Kaoru Yosano both announced they would be standing, joining party Secretary General Taro Aso. Yuriko Koike, Japan's first female minister of defence, is expected to announce her candidacy before Monday's deadline, although Mr Aso remains the favourite to take over from Yasuo Fukuda. Mr Fukuda shocked the country by announcing his resignation on Monday evening, citing his administration's inability to pass legislation since the opposition Democratic Party of Japan won control of the Upper House of the parliament in June 2007. Already out...