Steve Bannon may be toxic in Washington, but the infamous Donald Trump whisperer still gets the rock-star treatment in Tokyo. It is, after all, home to a leader he calls “Trump before Trump.” That leader is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. This entire movement throughout the world" of populism, from Victor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, to Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, “is really based upon people like Prime Minister Abe.”Music to the ears of Japanese conservatives who lament Tokyo’s loss of global relevance in the age of China. His grandfather, a former prime minister, was a member of the World War II cabinet. Bannon urges Abe to “reverse what the elites have allowed to happen,” forgetting that Abe, like Trump, is as elite as they get.

Source: Forbes March 12, 2019 04:52 UTC