US President Donald Trump, on a four-day visit to Japan, spent what he said was “an incredible evening” watching the Japanese national sport of sumo on Sunday, although the visit left some wrestling fans grumbling over tight security.
“INCREDIBLE EVENING”
Answering a request from Trump, who said last month that he’d always found the sport – where nearly naked wrestlers grapple on a raised sand ring – “fascinating,” sumo officials prepared for the unprecedented visit as the climax to a day of bonding between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over hamburgers and golf.
“I’ve always wanted to see sumo wrestling, so that was really great,” Trump said at the start of a dinner with Abe, accompanied by his wife, Melania, and Abe’s wife Akie, just after the match. “That was an incredible evening.”
Trump watches ‘incredible’ sumo wrestling in Japan WATCH
Trump presented the 25-year-old Asanoyama with a custom-made trophy called the United States President’s Cup – a set of wooden stairs fitted to the side of the raised sumo ring to make it easy for him to ascend for the prize-giving.