Fact Check: Did Abe Akie Fake Not Speaking English with Trump?

Abe Akie, Abe Shinzo, and Donald Trump against a background of lightning
Pictures: Gil Corzo (the Abes) and Joshua Sukoff (Trump) / Shutterstock
A popular meme says the former Japanese Prime Minister's wife went to great lengths not to speak to the MAGA Mafia leader. But is it true?

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There’s a persistent meme going around the Internet that Abe Akie, the wife of deceased former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzō, once faked not speaking English so that she didn’t have to speak to Donald Trump during dinner.

Now, I always love a good story that makes Trump look stupid or foppish. But we have to ask: Is this particular tale true? Or is it something we just all wished were true?

The meme

I bring it up because I’ve seen this meme from several accounts recently. Below is a single example:

This is part of an infuriating trend of “news” accounts that post images with headlines but no corroborating sources. (It’s gotten so bad that I’ve explicitly banned them from Unseen Japan’s Discord server.)

It’s bad enough when this distribution method is used by the right to spread harmful lies. But I see a lot of liberals glomming onto this format, too. It doesn’t seem to matter to them whether the story’s true or not. All that matters is that it makes someone they hate look even worse.

There’s enough to criticize Trump over. (Let’s start with the concentration camp in Florida, perhaps?) We don’t need to make shit up. In that spirit, we need to ask: Is this story true?

This story started because…well, because Trump said it was true. In July 2017, Trump told The New York Times about a dinner he had with world leaders after watching the opera.

TRUMP: So, I was seated next to the wife of Prime Minister Abe [Shinzo Abe of Japan], who I think is a terrific guy, and she’s a terrific woman, but doesn’t speak English.
HABERMAN: Like, nothing, right? Like zero?
TRUMP: Like, not “hello.”
HABERMAN: That must make for an awkward seating.
TRUMP: Well, it’s hard, because you know, you’re sitting there for——
HABERMAN: Hours.
TRUMP: So the dinner was probably an hour and 45 minutes.

Trump and former PM Abe had a close relationship during Abe’s historically long term in office and up to his assassination. The insinuation, however, is that Akie saw through it and purposefully snubbed the boorish dictator.

Let’s look at the facts.

Point 1: There’s video of Abe Akie speaking English

Keynote Address – Her Excellency- Madame Akie Abe, First Lady of Japan

R3ADY Asia-Pacific High-­‐Level Symposium on Coastal Resilience: The Road to Sendai -Partnerships Dialogue in Support of the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR). Amir Dossal- Chairman, Global Partnership Forum introduces Her Excellency- Madame Akie Abe, First Lady of Japan September 25th 2014 Ford Foundation- New York, NY

Internet users quickly found an example of Abe speaking English. In 2014, she spoke at the R3ADY Asia-Pacific symposium on coastal resilience hosted by the Ford Foundation. She delivered her address slowly but in well-pronounced English.

This video is what gave rise to the supposition that Abe can speak English perfectly well but chose not to, because she secretly dislikes Trump. In addition, Abe was educated at a famous Catholic school in Tokyo (Sacred Heart). It would make sense that she had received additional English language education there, on top of the education provided to all Japanese elementary, middle, and high school students.

While compelling, this isn’t concrete proof that Abe is comfortable speaking English. Reciting a speech and engaging in a conversation are two distinct skill sets. But it does show she seems to have a comfortable grasp of English, especially given her good pronunciation.

Point 2: Trump is a known liar

Donald Trump with his tongue sticking out from his teeth
Picture: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock.com

Here’s the thing, however. The statement that Abe doesn’t speak English comes from Donald Trump.

And Donald Trump is a notorious liar.

The Washington Post documented over 30,000 lies told by Trump in his first presidential term of office alone. Other papers have estimated he tells at least six lies a day.

So, yes, it’s possible Trump tried to engage Abe in conversation and she demurred for whatever reason. It’s also possible Trump did talk to her, and it went just fine. It’s also possible he never even tried to talk to her and made up what he thought was a funny story.

We don’t know. The man is a walking reality distortion field. His word actively devalues the paper it’s printed on.

Point 3: Abe Akie has talked to Trump repeatedly since her husband’s assassination

The meme about Abe Akie is a statement of something we can’t truly know: her state of mind. Unless she speaks out on the issue, any conclusions anyone draws are sheer speculation.

However, we can assess her actions. And her actions don’t indicate a hatred for Trump.

Abe has made headlines recently for her extra-political visits to world leaders. This year, for example, she controversially met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. She arranged the visit independently of the Japanese government in what she said was a bid to preserve her husband’s legacy.

And, yes, she also met with newly elected Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, in December. Like the meeting with Putin, this one was also arranged without the involvement of Japan’s government. Photos of the event that Melania Trump posted on X show the three standing together sans interpreter.

MELANIA TRUMP on X (formerly Twitter): “It was a privilege to host Mrs. Akie Abe at Mar-a-Lago once again. We fondly remembered her late husband, former Prime Minister Abe, and honored his remarkable legacy. pic.twitter.com/lEtMPTsuDt / X”

It was a privilege to host Mrs. Akie Abe at Mar-a-Lago once again. We fondly remembered her late husband, former Prime Minister Abe, and honored his remarkable legacy. pic.twitter.com/lEtMPTsuDt

Now, that doesn’t mean Abe didn’t have an interpreter with her. (Interpreters usually don’t make the photo op.) But it does seem to torpedo the notion that Abe has a burning hatred for the man. In addition, news reports say that Trump contacted Akie after Shinzō’s death and has spoken with her multiple times since then.

Conclusion

It’s possible that Abe Akie’s desire to preserve her husband’s “legacy” has driven her to mend fences with a man she can’t stand. However, I’m not buying it.

While Abe Shinzō never went as far as Donald Trump, he showed much of the same disdain for the rule of law as his friend. His administration was beset with a string of financial scandals. He caused a near-revolt in the country when he tried to keep a good friend in a powerful position. Hell, even his funeral was a stinking sinkhole of cash – a gaudy and lavish affair thrown using taxpayer funds.

Abe Shinzō was just as corrupt as Trump. He was just less brazen about it. The two men were birds of a feather in more ways than one.

I don’t buy for a moment the notion that someone who married and lived with Abe Shinzō found Trump inherently appalling. Unless Abe Akie herself says otherwise, I’m going to assume this meme is too good to be true.

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What to read next

Sources

Why didn’t Japan’s First Lady speak to Trump? BBC

Excerpts From The Times’s Interview With Trump. New York Times

阿部昭恵の英語力は?通訳なしでトランプ夫妻と会話できる!Bosatsudo

False or misleading statements by Donald Trump. Wikipedia

Widow of Late Japan PM Abe Meets with Trump. The Japan News

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