Tuesday, 5th November 2024

Trump presents President’s cup to Japanese Sumo wrestler

Finally, after a full day of matches, perhaps the biggest star of all - weighing in at 243 pounds, according to his most recent physical

Monday, 27th May 2019

Finally, after a full day of matches, perhaps the biggest star of all - weighing in at 243 pounds, according to his most recent physical - climbed into the sumo ring.

The president, first lady Melania Trump, Abe and his wife, Akie, joined an estimated 11,500 fans at Ryogoku Kokugikan Stadium to watch massive and muscular men, in bare feet and loin cloths, battle for supremacy in a small ring of dirt.

At the match’s end, Trump stepped into the ring and presented the eagle-topped “President’s Cup” to the champion, Asanoyama. Trump, the first American president to participate in such a ceremony, said later it was an “incredible evening.”

The president seemed to enjoy his low-key star-turn at Ryogoku Kokugikan Stadium here, exclaiming afterward, "That was an incredible evening at sumo."

"Sumo wrestling," he marveled later.

Trump took in just five matches - some lasting but several seconds - alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Sunday evening. But he spent the morning seemingly determined to put on a show of his own; at roughly 7:30 a.m. local time, the president fired off a tweet that, in a single social media missive, managed to undercut his national security adviser, reaffirm his ties with a dictator and attack a domestic political rival on foreign soil, all while misspelling the rival's name.

"North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me," Trump wrote, in a second tweet that corrected his initial misspelling of former vice president Joe Biden's last name. "I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that's sending me a signal?"

Less than a day earlier, Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, had argued the very opposite to reporters here, warning there is "no doubt" North Korea's missile tests violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, and adding that Trump was determined to maintain sanctions pressure on the regime until it backs down.