President Trump to talk to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 28 January

The United States President Donald J Trump is scheduled to speak to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by phone on Saturday morning (28 January), the White House said on Friday.

The newly-elected president would also speak to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday, the White House added.

The phone call comes just days after Trump formally withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). According to reports, the Republican leader signed the executive order on 23 January to remove the US from the 21-nation TPP, but Japan is hopeful that its ties can be maintained through Trump's preferred two-way trade deals.

Abe is scheduled to visit the US in February, where he plans to discuss the South China Sea and East China Sea issues during the meeting and strengthen its own defence system with Washington.

An official from the Trump administration said on Thursday that the new government would seek quick progress towards a bilateral trade agreement with Japan in place of TPP.

Meanwhile, the remaining members of the TPP, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are expected to hold talks in March to deal with the US exit.

Australia has already suggested that China should take the place of the US in the multilateral trade pact, an option that Japan is open to despite fears that it would increase Beijing's power in the region.