Trump kicks off Asia tour with golf and a burger

US President Donald Trump’s first trip to Asia began with a round of golf, a custom cap and a hamburger of American beef.

The president got a taste of home as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed him to Japan on Sunday with a display of friendship that will soon give way to high-stakes diplomacy. The two men have struck up an easy rapport.

The leaders played nine holes of golf at Japan’s premiere course.

The low-key start was a prelude to the formal talks planned in Tokyo on Monday.

Mr Abe will be looking for a united front against North Korea and reassurances that the US will stand by its treaty obligations to defend Japan if attacked.

Mr Trump has praised Japan as a “crucial ally” and warned adversaries not to test America’s resolve as he kicked off his first trip to Asia.

He landed at Yokota Air Base on the outskirts of Tokyo and was greeted by cheering service members.

He then donned a bomber jacket for a speech in which he touted American firepower and the US alliance with Japan.

“Japan is a treasured partner and crucial ally of the United States and today we thank them for welcoming us and for decades of wonderful friendship between our two nations,” he said, speaking in front of an American flag inside an airplane hangar.

Mr Trump was expected to spend much of his 12-day, five-country Asian tour exhorting allies and rivals to step up efforts to counter the dangers posed by North Korea, which continues to move forward with its nuclear weapons program.

Both he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been engaged in an escalating war of words, with Mr Trump repeatedly referring to the North Korean leader as “Little Rocket Man” and threatening in a recent speech to “totally destroy” the nation if necessary.

Even before he landed, Mr Trump used the first moments of the trip to denounce the North as “a big problem” that must “be solved.”

“There’s been 25 years of total weakness, so we are taking a very much different approach” toward the North, he told reporters travelling with him.

During the speech, Mr Trump did not mention North Korea by name, but warned of the consequences of crossing what he called the “most fearsome fighting force in the history of our world”.

“Together with our allies, America’s warriors are prepared to defend our nation using the full range of our unmatched capabilities. No one – no dictator, no regime and no nation – should underestimate, ever, American resolve,” Mr Trump told the troops.

Some regional analysts have speculated that Trump’s presence in Asia may prompt North Korea to take provocative action, such as another missile test.

The president, when asked about that possibility aboard Air Force One, said “we’ll soon find out”.