:00:18. > :00:19.Abe, Trump, and the $69 billion elephant in the room.
:00:20. > :00:23.That's how much more Japan sells to the US than it buys from the US
:00:24. > :00:29.and that's what will dominate talks at the White House later today.
:00:30. > :00:32.Greece's debt crisis returns to haunt Europe.
:00:33. > :00:38.Or will we have to add Grexit to Brexit?
:00:39. > :00:57.Good morning, Britain, and hello, world. Welcome to the programme. We
:00:58. > :01:01.have got that Friday feeling. If you are tuning in for the first time,
:01:02. > :01:06.stay where you are. I am only asking to ten minutes, that is all I have.
:01:07. > :01:10.I will give you an exciting snapshot of all the latest in a world of this
:01:11. > :01:13.the same money. We start in the United States, where you have in
:01:14. > :01:16.hearing that Japan's home minister, Shinzo Abe, meets with President
:01:17. > :01:18.Trump later today. -- Prime Minister.
:01:19. > :01:23.Remember, one of Mr Trump's first actions as President was to withdraw
:01:24. > :01:25.from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal,
:01:26. > :01:28.signed by Obama and strongly supported by the Japanese.
:01:29. > :01:31.Mr Trump called it a terrible deal for the US.
:01:32. > :01:33.He wants a fairer trading relationship with Japan -
:01:34. > :01:44.Last year Japan sold almost $69 billion of more stuff to the US
:01:45. > :01:56.That trade surplus, as it's called, is one of the biggest any nation
:01:57. > :02:00.To give you an idea of why, look at this.
:02:01. > :02:04.In 2015, the latest figures we have, the US exported a little over 16,000
:02:05. > :02:07.Here's how many Japanese cars were sold that year
:02:08. > :02:18.Most of those cars are actually made in the US.
:02:19. > :02:21.Mr Abe is expected to stress that 1.5 million American jobs rely,
:02:22. > :02:23.either directly or indirectly, on Japanese carmakers.
:02:24. > :02:26.On top of this you have the so-called currency wars.
:02:27. > :02:30.Mr Trump has claimed the Japanese yen is kept artificially low
:02:31. > :02:33.against the dollar to help Japanese exporters.
:02:34. > :02:43.And there's another big figure that is causing tension.
:02:44. > :02:47.$5.5 billion was the bill to keep US troops in Japan last year.
:02:48. > :02:52.Japan actually paid for almost half of that, according to their defence
:02:53. > :03:00.ministry, but Mr Trump says the US is shouldering too much
:03:01. > :03:08.of the burden of security in the region.
:03:09. > :03:15.So how best to diffuse all this tension?
:03:16. > :03:26.Over a round or two of golf of course, as Samira Hussain reports
:03:27. > :03:32.Japan's Prime Minister will be meeting with President Trump at the
:03:33. > :03:37.White House on Friday. But where most of the diplomatic charter may
:03:38. > :03:42.actually take place is on the links. American presidents have a long
:03:43. > :03:49.history of Wayne Gulf, and Mr Trump is no different. -- play in goal. In
:03:50. > :03:52.a recent interview, the President said he believes playing golf is a
:03:53. > :03:56.better way to get to know somebody then having lunch, one of the
:03:57. > :04:00.reasons he has invited Shinzo Abe, a fellow golf enthusiasts, to join him
:04:01. > :04:04.at Mar-a-Lago, the winter White House. This is a testament to the
:04:05. > :04:07.importance the US places on the bilateral relationship and the
:04:08. > :04:13.strength of a bite -- our alliance and the deep economic times -- ties
:04:14. > :04:16.between the US and Japan. But the Japanese Prime Minister's trip to
:04:17. > :04:19.Florida is raising questions of conflict of interest. Who will pay
:04:20. > :04:25.for the Prime Minister's stay at Donald Trump's resort? I braise for
:04:26. > :04:29.also raised when the Prime Minister met with the then president elect
:04:30. > :04:32.Trump after his election win. The present's daughter, Eve Anke Trump,
:04:33. > :04:37.was also there. That raise questions of potential conflict of interest
:04:38. > :04:41.between the President and his family's Isner 's ventures. So what
:04:42. > :04:45.will the two leaders be discussing? Security and trade will be top of
:04:46. > :04:49.the agenda. Now that the US has pulled out of the TPP, the 12
:04:50. > :04:53.country trade act, Mr Trump is going to be looking to try to get some
:04:54. > :04:58.sort of a lateral trade deal with Japan on the books. -- why lateral.
:04:59. > :05:02.Shinzo Abe will be coming to Washington with a massive business
:05:03. > :05:04.proposal for Japanese companies to invest in the United States in
:05:05. > :05:09.infrastructure and job creation projects. And the Prime Minister has
:05:10. > :05:16.already picked up on the subtleties of this new game. He has said he
:05:17. > :05:22.will give Trump a credible figure. -- tweetable figure.
:05:23. > :05:27.It slack Mr Trump may have to pencil in a lot more golf, certainly some
:05:28. > :05:31.with resonance Xi Jinping of China. -- some with President Xi Jinping.
:05:32. > :05:34.We've just had some figures that show China is still selling far more
:05:35. > :05:38.More than $21 billion in December alone.
:05:39. > :05:41.That puts those Japan figures in perspective somewhat.
:05:42. > :05:48.Let's go straight over to the Singapore bureau, where Mariko Oi
:05:49. > :05:53.joins us. I know that you are married to a golfer. A professional
:05:54. > :05:58.golfer, actually. So I want to know, has he told you anything? The
:05:59. > :06:03.Japanese run minister, he is a dab hand at golf? I am wondering who is
:06:04. > :06:07.the best, Trump or Shinzo Abe? We do not talk about golf at home, Aaron,
:06:08. > :06:11.nor do we talk about news, because we have no interest in each other's
:06:12. > :06:16.sessions, unfortunately. But I am sure they would both be welcome if
:06:17. > :06:20.they come to Singapore, that is for sure. I think I have to say, it is
:06:21. > :06:23.fair to say President Trump would the having a much you issue with
:06:24. > :06:29.that China trade surplus than Japan. I think I minister Shinzo Abe will
:06:30. > :06:35.be emphasising that when he meets the President, that, hey, our trade
:06:36. > :06:38.surplus is not as big, and Japan actually contributes to the US
:06:39. > :06:42.economy. You are talking about the jobs that are ready in America, but
:06:43. > :06:47.he has reported they are also offering to create 700,000 US jobs.
:06:48. > :06:51.Whether or not that is achievable is another matter, because if it is
:06:52. > :06:54.that easy he really should have done it back home already. That will
:06:55. > :07:00.definitely be high on the agenda. For the rest of the world, or at
:07:01. > :07:04.least for the rest of Asia, China's trade figures are not actually bad
:07:05. > :07:08.news, because as you mentioned, the trade surplus with the United States
:07:09. > :07:14.is huge, but also its exports are rising 8% and its imports are rising
:07:15. > :07:19.to 7%. Both beat expectations. That indicates China's economy is off to
:07:20. > :07:22.a good start. That is great news because China is the biggest trading
:07:23. > :07:26.partner for many Asian countries. Indeed. Thanks for that. I am
:07:27. > :07:32.wondering what you do talk about at home, then, if you don't talk about
:07:33. > :07:37.your job or about golf? I kid! Do you actually talk to him? Do you
:07:38. > :07:41.talk about things with your husband? We talk about our daughter a lot,
:07:42. > :07:44.yes. Have a great weekend. See you soon. We are also looking at this.
:07:45. > :07:45.Welcome it is coming. We are also looking at Greece,
:07:46. > :07:49.which today has to pay back 1.4 It's the latest instalment
:07:50. > :07:53.on the country's 320 billion euro And it's just one in what will
:07:54. > :07:57.become an avalanche of payments over The crunch will come in July -
:07:58. > :08:02.when Greece will need fresh funds from its European and international
:08:03. > :08:04.creditors to stay afloat. The problem is, the International
:08:05. > :08:08.Monetary Fund says it won't pay any more unless Europe agrees to write
:08:09. > :08:10.off a sizeable chunk And it warns that Greece is not
:08:11. > :08:30.doing enough to reform. I think we would agree that Europe
:08:31. > :08:33.has provided extraordinary support to Greece and we would agree
:08:34. > :08:36.that it is encouraging that Europe indicates, reiterates again today
:08:37. > :08:42.that it will stand by Greece We obviously welcome
:08:43. > :08:52.both of those things, but I think it's important to say
:08:53. > :08:56.this also that that support The standards chief of the US
:08:57. > :09:19.Congress says a senior Trump aide Kristian Scholz joins us. Thanks for
:09:20. > :09:24.coming in. You know what I'm going to say to you. I am so bored of
:09:25. > :09:29.this. I am so bored of it. I cannot believe it is back, I feel like I am
:09:30. > :09:32.either in a timewarp warp or it is Groundhog Day. The same old
:09:33. > :09:35.arguments, Greece needs more money, Greece is not performing. The
:09:36. > :09:42.European lenders and Europe are battling over what to do. Can I put
:09:43. > :09:47.a gun to my head now? What do you say to that? This is square one.
:09:48. > :09:49.Another thing that is or is the same is that there is a deadline
:09:50. > :09:53.approaching, and external deadline. At some point Greece will have to
:09:54. > :09:57.make a payment. The big ones are perhaps in April, and the really big
:09:58. > :10:01.one you mentioned is the repayment of the ECB. That is private
:10:02. > :10:04.creditors, in July. Does it have the money now to make these payments?
:10:05. > :10:08.Probably has the money for the April payment but not the July payment. By
:10:09. > :10:13.July, it needs that big amount of money. It needs to pass the second,
:10:14. > :10:18.only the second review of the programme, which was agreed back in
:10:19. > :10:21.2015. But the problem, or the issue, which is slightly different this
:10:22. > :10:26.time, is that it is still so many months away. The first understood
:10:27. > :10:31.half months away. The second is four and half months away. It is almost
:10:32. > :10:35.half a year away, and we are already in a mode where it feels like we are
:10:36. > :10:39.on the brink. We are not on the brink. We still have lots of time.
:10:40. > :10:43.There is no liquidity issue. And if that is the case there is always,
:10:44. > :10:47.well, if there is an immediate deadline... They won't do anything
:10:48. > :10:49.until they get to that deadline. An important difference this year is
:10:50. > :10:55.that Europe could look very different come the end of this year.
:10:56. > :10:59.In terms of politics, right? We have more Eurosceptic parties coming out
:11:00. > :11:03.in favour with a lot of the population. We have the French
:11:04. > :11:06.elections, Netherlands, Germany. Greece could be dealing with a
:11:07. > :11:10.completely different Europe, and a Europe that may not have the
:11:11. > :11:15.appetite to give the Greeks any more money. Absolutely. We are in a big
:11:16. > :11:17.election year. This time it is the creditor countries, not the
:11:18. > :11:21.countries are explained in Portugal and Greece with elections. This time
:11:22. > :11:25.it is countries like France and Netherlands and Germany. They are
:11:26. > :11:28.under pressure to deliver for their populations results on Greece, but
:11:29. > :11:31.there are reforms, that there is great that the Greeks are running
:11:32. > :11:36.the primary and fiscal surpluses that they need to repay the debt.
:11:37. > :11:42.That is not coming through the not going to give Greece any help. -- if
:11:43. > :11:46.that is not. This is a highly controversial year, because of the
:11:47. > :11:49.politics. You and I have sat here over the years talking about Grexit.
:11:50. > :11:56.That was well before rags it happened, it was all about Grexit.
:11:57. > :11:59.-- before Brexit happened. Everybody said that cannot happen, you cannot
:12:00. > :12:04.have a nation leave the European Union. Yes, you can! With Brexit now
:12:05. > :12:08.happening, could the European say, you know what, it is OK. Just let
:12:09. > :12:18.the Greeks go as well? I think there is a big difference between Grexit
:12:19. > :12:22.and Grexit. -- Brexit and Grexit. In terms of financial stability Grexit
:12:23. > :12:29.is probably the big deal, it is just leaving the EU, not leaving the
:12:30. > :12:32.currency like a Grexit is. We have had the German finance minister
:12:33. > :12:35.several times saying that it is conceivable that Greece leads the
:12:36. > :12:39.euro, it does not reform. That is part of the article or whatever, one
:12:40. > :12:45.of the articles. It is written in stone, isn't it? I have to wrap this
:12:46. > :12:49.up. But you cannot write off your debt, and if you cannot pay, you out
:12:50. > :12:53.of the euro. There is the no bailout clause in Europe, and the no bailout
:12:54. > :12:58.clause means no direct transfers to know countries. No writing off of
:12:59. > :13:02.debt. Kristian, always a pleasure. Thank you to coming in. Have a great
:13:03. > :13:03.weekend, by the way. Let me just touch on this story before I leave
:13:04. > :13:04.you. The standards chief of the US
:13:05. > :13:07.Congress says a senior Trump aide was "wrong, wrong, wrong" to promote
:13:08. > :13:09.Ivanka Trump products Kellyanne Conway told
:13:10. > :13:12.Fox News on Thursday, Retailer Nordstrom earlier this
:13:13. > :13:16.month dropped the US first daughter's clothing line,
:13:17. > :13:21.citing a lack of sales. The White House said
:13:22. > :13:27.President Donald Trump "absolutely" continued to support Ms Conway,
:13:28. > :13:40.despite intense criticism There you go. You can full amount
:13:41. > :13:44.to, I will be back with James to take us over the papers in a little
:13:45. > :13:53.mile. -- you can follow me on Twitter.
:13:54. > :13:57.The BBC has learnt that the organisation responsible for
:13:58. > :14:00.advising English health trusts on security of staff is ending that
:14:01. > :14:02.work despite a steep increase in attacks on doctors and nurses. NHS
:14:03. > :14:04.Attacked