Trump: Japan PM's wife doesn't speak English—or does she?

Not even a hello?

The New York Times on July 19 released "Excerpts From The Times’s Interview With Trump" where US President Donald Trump revealed that the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife Akie did not speak a word to him during a dinner at the 2017 G20 Hamburg Summit.

He told NYT reporter Maggie Haberman, "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."

The conversation goes on:

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.

To counter the statement, a video of Akie Abe delivering the keynote address at  at the Ford Foundation in New York back in 2014.

During her visit with Prime Minister Abe to President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this year, she is heard confirming to Honeylet Avanceña that the traditional garment she received as a gift is a belt.

Abe has also previously visited the US with her husband, even touring the a Japanese Garden with US First Lady Melania Trump in February 2017.

Abe was with an interpreter at some points, but was seen sharing a laugh with the first lady far from the crowd and listening attentively to an English speaking guide.

But, as noted by the Washington Post, her less-than-perfect command of the English language might have been what deterred her from speaking with Trump — not the intentional "snub" some people believe it to be.

Abe is more often seen with an interpreter and usually delivers speeches in her native tongue of Japanese.

One respondent told Washington Post, “I expect she may be able to have a courtesy-type conversation, but you should not assume more than that.”

Nicole Uehara, who helped set up an event attended by Abe in 2015, said that she was informed that Abe does know some English, but is not fluent.

It seems that neither Trump nor his critics are right — Abe can at least say "hello", but she was not pretending that she couldn't speak English to ignore him. — TJD, GMA News