President Trump Revealed He 'Never Knew We Had So Many Countries'

Beginning his Asian tour Saturday after touching ground in Japan, President Donald Trump detailed his high regard for the relationship between him and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - and his apparent lack of knowledge about the number of countries in the world.

On his final night in Japan, before moving on to South Korea, Trump spoke about his relationship with the prime minister at a dinner in Agasaka Palace following their Sunday game of golf – a tradition initiated by Abe's grandfather and former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi during President Dwight Eisenhower's term. Following his comments about Abe, the president revealed that he never knew how many countries there were.

"So my relationship with Shinzo got off to quite a rocky start because I never ran for office, and here I am," Trump said at the dinner. "But I never ran, so I wasn’t very experienced. And after I had won, everybody was calling me from all over the world. I never knew we had so many countries."

Trump continued to express his gratitude for their friendship and called Abe a "very aggressive, strong, tough prime minister."

"Our two great countries will have incredible friendship and incredible success for many centuries to come," Trump said.

The president's Asian tour was set to last 13 days and would include stops in South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Trump arrived in Japan less than a day before the Texas shooting on Sunday and tweeted shortly after the attack that the situation was being monitored from Japan.

"May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas," Trump tweeted Sunday. "The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan."

Trump said he regarded the Texas attack Monday not as "a guns situation, [but] a mental health problem at the highest level."