Palm Beach, Florida - President-elect Donald Trump hosted Akie Abe, the widow of the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, for a private dinner with his wife Melania at Mar-a-Lago Sunday.

Trump and Shinzō Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, had a close relationship during the Republican's first term as president.

"It was a privilege to host Mrs. Akie Abe at Mar-a-Lago once again," Melania Trump said in a rare post X.

"We fondly remembered her late husband, former Prime Minister Abe, and honored his remarkable legacy."

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The post included a photo showing Abe standing between Melania – who has been notably absent from the public eye – and her husband, with the president-elect doing his characteristic thumbs-up pose.

The daughter of a wealthy Japanese family, she married Shinzo Abe in 1987 and rose to prominence during his terms as prime minister of Japan, first from 2006 to 2007, and then again from 2012 to 2020.

As Japan's longest-serving premier, Shinzō Abe became one of the country's most recognizable political figures, known for cultivating international alliances and his "Abenomics" economic strategy.

He was shot and killed by a disgruntled ex-navy member while speaking at a political campaign rally in Nara on July 8, 2022.