October 28, 2025 - 4:00pm
Newly installed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met President Donald Trump in Tokyo today. It was quite the way to start a new job — Takaichi only became the country’s first female leader a week ago. The two watched baseball together before moving onto more serious matters.
Trade and security were apparently discussed and a deal was signed to secure mining and the processing of rare earth minerals. The move is designed to limit the two countries’ reliance on Chinese suppliers after Beijing tightened export controls. Takaichi has also pledged to bolster Japan’s defense spending by speeding up the drive to 2% of GDP —something that will also be of interest to Beijing. Trump will meet Xi Jinping in Seoul this week and likely wanted to do so with the famously Sino-skeptic Takaichi firmly onside.
Among other details, there is a mooted order of a fleet of Ford F-150 trucks, which, though arguably unsuitable for most Japanese roads, would assuage Trump’s lingering resentment about Japan’s surplus in this sector. It could also contribute a little to the promise of huge investment in the US by Japanese companies, a sweetener used by her predecessor Shigeru Ishiba to win tariff concessions.
The two seemed to get on famously. Trump said the new Japanese PM would go on to become one of the country’s “greatest” leaders and commented on her “very strong handshake”. For her part, Takaichi described the Japan-US relationship as the greatest in the world and pledged to nominate her US counterpart for the Nobel Peace Prize. She also heralded the beginning of a new “Golden Age” of friendship and cooperation between the two nations.
On a personal level, the relationship should be strong. Trump and Takaichi have much in common. They are both hawkish on China and take a hard line on immigration. Takaichi was mentored by former PM Shinzo Abe, a favorite of Trump’s, about whom he still speaks fondly. Takaichi even gifted the President one of Abe’s putters. She also speaks English and worked in television.
But talk of a golden age may be premature. The tariff situation is still a major bone of contention for the huge Japanese automakers and Takaichi will have to bring this up sooner or later. It is easy to talk of increasing defense spending but there is still the tricky issue of the pacifist constitution which severely limits Japan’s scope for doing so meaningfully. In any case, finding the funds, given Japan’s parlous economic state, will be far from easy.
And while Takaichi’s handshake may have been firm, her hold on power is less so. Her party, the Liberal Democrats (LDP), relies on a newly minted coalition with the Japan Innovation Party which no one is sure will stick, so it will not be easy to deliver on any promises made to Washington. And though the Abe connection may have given her an in, it won’t do her much good domestically as the assassinated former PM remains a divisive figure for many.
In truth, this encounter was far more significant for Takaichi than for Trump, for whom it was likely little more than a courtesy call. Japan will need America’s support in security terms for the foreseeable future and has limited power to combat the tariffs. The wooing of Trump points to how desperately Takaichi needed this first high-level encounter of her premiership to go well. It seems to have done so, but there are serious challenges ahead.
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