The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have invited Donald Trump to visit them this year, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs in these two cities in Japan.

In a joint letter to the US president, the two mayors ask him to visit their cities to “personally listen to the testimonies of the ‘hibakusha’ (atomic bomb survivors), to understand their fervent desire for peace, and to deepen your understanding of the inhuman nature of nuclear weapons.”

“We sincerely hope that you will abandon the idea of nuclear dependence and take strong initiatives for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the establishment of global, lasting peace,” they said in their letter dated January 28.

In 2010, former US Ambassador to Japan John Roos became the first US official to attend the annual commemorations in Hiroshima, and two years later he participated in similar events in Nagasaki.

Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima in 2016, and Joe Biden did the same in 2023. Donald Trump did not visit the two martyred Japanese cities during his first term, although he had received an invitation from their mayors, according to Japanese media.

The US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and another on Nagasaki on August 9. These are the only times in history that nuclear weapons have been used in wartime. A few days later Japan capitulated.

Some 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki, including many who survived the blasts but died later due to the effects of radiation.

The US has never apologized for these bombings.