Praise, Nobel nominations and promises of foreign investment in the US – Japan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rolled out the red carpet for Donald Trump on Tuesday.
Trump in turn had warm praise for Takaichi, telling her that the US would be there for “anything you want, any favours you need, anything… to help Japan”.
The two leaders signed a deal on rare earth minerals, as well as a document heralding a new “golden age” of US-Japan relations which reiterated the commitment of the two countries to implement deals struck earlier, including the 15% tariff deal negotiated earlier this year.
The pageantry and the venue also seemed tailor-made for the US president.
A full military guard of honour and band welcomed Trump to the ornate Akasaka Palace, with its vaulted ceilings and gold-encrusted walls not unlike what the president wants in his planned White House ballroom.
Over lunch, Trump congratulated Takaichi for becoming Japan’s first female prime minister.
Notably, according to a White House readout, that lunch was “American rice and American beef, deliciously made with Japanese ingredients” – a move that will no doubt have delighted Trump, who has long demanded that Japan buy rice from the US.
Takaichi also accompanied Trump aboard a US aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, where they were greeted by thousands of cheering American troops. Takaichi took the stage and praised what she called the “greatest alliance in the world” and pledged to increase defence spending.
Trump has in the past criticised Japan’s lack of defence spending. In April this year, he lambasted a security treaty with Japan as being “one-sided”, saying: “We pay billions of dollars to defend them, but they don’t pay anything.”
Ahead of their meeting on Wednesday, Trump said he was sure that he would have a “fantastic relationship” with Takaichi, who had a strong connection with former PM Shinzo Abe, a Trump favourite who was shot dead in 2022.
“She was a great ally and friend of Abe, who was my friend… He was one of the best… I know they were very close, and I think philosophically they were close, which is very good,” he told reporters while flying over to Japan from Malaysia on Tuesday.
Trump is spending a week in Asia. He will leave Japan for South Korea on Wednesday, and is expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping there on Thursday.