US President Donald Trump on Friday welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House on Friday amid tension in bilateral ties due to the Republican leader's stance on trade and security.

Unlike previous presidents, Trump greeted his guest at the door of the West Wing, a job that used to be done by a protocol officer. Trump extended the same courtesy to his first foreign visitor, British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Abe is expected to discuss plans for Japanese investment in US infrastructure projects a favourite topic of the US president and his nation's commitment to increased defence spending, according to US and Japanese officials.

The main goal of the Trump-Abe meeting is "building personal trust between the two leaders," said a Japanese statement on the summit, and to bolster the historic US-Japan alliance that is "the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region."

Trump, who during his presidential campaign criticised Japan over trade and mutual defence, has set aside two days for chats with Abe.

After an extended handshake with Abe in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump complimented his future golf partner by saying, "Strong hands."

After an Oval Office meeting, a working lunch and a news conference at the White House, Abe and Trump will travel on Air Force One to the president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. The two leaders are scheduled to play a round of golf tomorrow.

The meeting takes place less than a month after Trump formally announced he would not pursue ratification of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade deal in which Japan would have been a key player.

Instead, Abe is expected to begin talks about revising bilateral trade agreements between the United States and Japan, and to commit to Japanese investments in the US economy.

"We will develop the two countries' economies even more based on free and fair rules," Abe told reporters.

In his presidential campaign, Trump had complained about what he-called "one-sided" deals in which the United States supplies troops and general defence assistance to allies, but bear a disproportionate share of the costs.