President Donald Trump is meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in a high-stakes visit for a key ally that depends on the United States for security and trade.
At the top of the agenda is military cooperation to deter threats, foreign investment in the U.S., opportunities to develop technology and American energy exports, according to senior Trump administration officials.
Japan’s prime minister will be looking to strike a personal connection with Trump and get reassurance that Trump won’t hit Japan with tariffs or abandon its security guarantees. Ishiba faces the challenge of navigating Trump’s long-held views that allies take advantage of the U.S. while not paying enough for the cost of American military assistance.
He will likely look to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022 after he left office. Abe used his personal relationship with Trump to push for Japanese interests and avoid a trade war during Trump’s first administration.
The senior administration officials hinted they’ll be looking for concessions and commitments from Japan in the form of investments in the U.S.
“We all know that Trump pays a lot of attention to deficits,” a senior administration official said. “We welcome Japanese investments in the United States, including in the U.S. manufacturing sector.”
“There will be a lot of discussion about that, as well as exports from the U.S., most likely in the energy sector,” the official added.
The CEO of SoftBank, one of Japan’s largest companies, visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago during the transition period and recently came to the White House, promising to invest $100 billion in U.S. projects over the next four years, creating 100,000 jobs.
“The United States is proud of our long and close alliance with Japan, and it’s time for a new age of U.S.-Japan relations to bring peace and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific. Our two nations will continue to work together to ensure we deter threats in the region through our full range of military capabilities. Today, you should expect President Trump and Prime Minister Ishiba to discuss realistic training exercises and increase our cooperation on defense equipment and technology,” the senior administration official said.
“They will also discuss foreign investment into the United States to create high-quality American jobs. President Trump and the prime minister will also discuss ways to improve our cybersecurity capabilities, increase space cooperation and promote joint business opportunities to develop critical technologies like AI and semiconductors, and lastly, as President Trump aims to unleash American energy exports to the rest of the world,” the senior administration official added.
One senior official also noted the administration supports efforts to hold trilateral meetings with Japan and South Korea and that there will see continuity there.
When asked about whether Trump will ask Japan to raise its defense spending, an issue that Trump has raised with allies across the globe, the officials declined to “get ahead” of discussions.
But one official added, “There are negotiations that go on constantly, quite frankly, about the status of facilities and weapons and deployments and training areas, and so they’re always constantly being adjusted to ensure the strongest possible deployment of the alliance, you know, the capabilities between the two of us and the investment that both countries are making in our shared security.”
One senior administration official added that the visit will be a chance to “continue to develop the long-standing friendship and relationship between our two nations.”
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