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		</div><p>US president Donald Trump and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe appear to have cemented a strong alliance with the help of golf under the Florida sun and North Korea&#8217;s reported ballistic missile launch.</p>
<p>The two leaders made a hastily-arranged joint statement in a ballroom of Mr Trump&#8217;s south Florida estate after the reported launch.</p>
<p>Mr Abe spoke first and longest, though his statement was terse.</p>
<p>&#8220;North Korea&#8217;s most recent missile launch is absolutely intolerable,&#8221; he said through an interpreter.<br />
He added that the North must comply fully with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, but noted that Mr Trump had assured him that the US supported Japan.</p>
<p>&#8220;President Trump and I myself completely share the view that we are going to promote further co-operation between the two nations,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;And also we are going to further reinforce our alliance.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mr Trump followed with even fewer words, saying: &#8220;I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100%.&#8221;</p>
<p>With that, they left the room, a surprise of sorts, given that the usually outspoken Mr Trump did not condemn the launch.</p>
<p>In the opening days of his presidency, Mr Trump&#8217;s diplomacy had a rocky stretch that included contentious phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia.</p>
<p>In contrast, the first visit by a foreign leader at his Mar-a-Lago estate was a friendly weekend of meetings, dinners and golf that suggested the new president was willing to invest time in developing close personal relationships with leaders he feels he can work with.<br />
The president and first lady Melania Trump hosted a delegation dinner with Mr Abe and his wife on Saturday night.<br />
At the time Mr Trump ignored a shouted question about the North Korea launch.</p>
<p>Focusing on the positive, he said Mr Abe&#8217;s visit had been &#8220;very very good&#8221; and that he and the Japanese leader &#8220;got to know each other very, very well&#8221; over their two days of meals, meetings and golfing.</p>
<p>The leaders, both frequent golfers, left Mar-a-Lago early on Saturday morning and headed north to one of Mr Trump&#8217;s golf courses in Jupiter, Florida.</p>
<p>Reporters and photographers from both countries, who were held in a room with blacked-out windows, did not catch a glimpse of the pair as they played.</p>
<p>But Mr Trump later posted a photo of them giving each other a high-five on the golf course and tweeted: &#8220;Having a great time hosting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the United States!&#8221;<br />
Pro golfer Ernie Els joined them on the greens.</p>
<p>The pair also paid a visit to another nearby Trump property, The Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.</p>
<p>Mr Abe had joked at a joint press conference at the White House on Friday that he was looking forward to playing golf with Mr Trump, even though, he claimed, he&#8217;s not nearly as good on the links.<br />
He said he planned to use the time to discuss the future of the world, the Pacific region and US-Japanese relations.</p>
<p>In a sign of unity, neither Japanese nor White House officials volunteered the pair&#8217;s final score.<br />
Instead, the White House issued a statement saying the day was &#8220;both relaxing and productive&#8221; and that Mr Trump and Mr Abe had &#8220;had great conversations on a wide range of subjects&#8221;.</p>
<p>As their husbands golfed, Mrs Trump and Akie Abe toured the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in nearby Delray Beach, Mrs. Trump&#8217;s first solo event as first lady.</p>
<p>The women had lunch together at Mar-a-Lago.</p>
<p>Mr Trump also tended to other business in Florida, calling Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi and Colombian oresident Juan Manuel Santos as he continues conversations with foreign leaders.</p>
<p>The visit comes as the White House continues to consider its options after the stinging legal defeat by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a block on Mr Trump&#8217;s executive order suspending the nation&#8217;s refugee programme and barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.</p>
<p>While the administration maintains that all options are on the table, including a Supreme Court appeal, Mr Trump said he was considering signing a &#8220;brand new order&#8221; as early as Monday, which could address some of the legal issues the court has identified.</p>
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