On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takachi announced “a new golden age” on the horizon for the US-Japan alliance.
Japan was the second stop on the US president’s Asia tour, which will conclude with talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a summit in South Korea on Thursday.
In Japan, Trump used his visit to America’s closest ally in East Asia to show strength ahead of his highly anticipated meeting with Xi.
Trump and Takachi signed an agreement on strategically important raw materials, and published a list of joint projects in energy, artificial intelligence and critical technologies.
The two leaders were also seen together on the nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier in Yokohama port.
Speaking to U.S. Marines, Takaichi called for a “free and open” Indo-Pacific as the basis for U.S.-Japanese strategic cooperation.
“No one has our weapons, and very soon our country will be stronger and more powerful than ever before,” Trump declared, before concluding with a short dance to the song “YMCA” reminiscent of his presidential campaign.
conservative partner
Takaichi left no stone unturned in his efforts to establish good relations with Trump during their first face-to-face meeting.
Takaichi, 64, also played up his close relationship with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Trump also praised Takaichi several times for becoming the first female Prime Minister of Japan.
Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, was a close friend of Trump during his first term, and Trump still holds his memory in high esteem today.
Nationalist Abe was Takaichi’s mentor and she sees herself as his political heir. In his first meeting with Trump, he presented him with Abe’s golf putter as a gift, as the two had played golf together many times. Takachi clearly wanted to transfer Trump’s positive feelings for Abe to himself.
Other small gestures were intended to show that Japan had adopted the tone coming from the Trump administration. For lunch, Trump and Takachi were served American risotto rice and steak made from American beef.
The meal was intended to symbolize Japan’s desire to import more American agricultural products and Trump specifically requested for more rice and beef purchases.
Japan also offered to buy more soybeans and natural gas from the US, as well as a fleet of American pickup trucks.
America-Japan allies at their strongest
Takaichi praised Trump’s role in ensuring ceasefires between Cambodia and Thailand and Israel and Hamas. These were “phenomenal” achievements. According to the White House, Takaichi also wants to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The conservative politician had already worked to make a good impression on Trump ahead of his visit.
On Friday, Takachi announced in parliament that Japan would increase defense spending to 2% of economic output in the fiscal year ending in March. Earlier, Japan had planned to reach this target only in 2027.
Trump immediately praised Japan for enhancing its military capabilities “very significantly”, and said the US had already received Japanese orders “for a very large amount of new military equipment”.
Delivery of the long-awaited American missiles for F-35 fighters, which Japan had been waiting for for a long time. It is going to start this week.
At the same time, Trump assured Japan of US strategic support, which he had questioned during his first presidency, by requiring Japan to share more of the cost of stationing US troops there.
“We are allies at the strongest level,” Trump said in Tokyo.
new Deal
In addition to several mutual compliments, Trump and Takachi also signed a cooperation agreement for strategically important raw materials.
Under the plan, the private sector is being mobilized to reduce its dependence on China for these raw materials, which are required for the manufacturing of electronics, semiconductors, batteries, wind turbines and weapons.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Japan’s new Economy and Industry Minister, Ryoshi Akazawa, have already met in Tokyo on Sunday. During the summer, he was involved in negotiations on a trade agreement under which Japan would invest $550 billion in potential projects in the US.
Trump has indicated that his administration will “invest as we want” and decide how the money will be spent, and in return, the President retroactively reduced US import tariffs on Japanese goods to 15% in early August.
The Takachi administration is now trying to ensure that the billions are invested for Japan’s benefit as well. This is another reason why Takachi made such an effort to win Trump’s trust and goodwill during this visit.
This article has been translated from German