Trump meets with new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi
Trump meets with new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi
By Reuters | Published: 2025-10-28 14:31:00 | Source: Fast Company – news
US President Donald Trump praised Japan’s first female leader, Sanae Takaishi, in Tokyo on Tuesday, welcoming her pledge to accelerate military buildup and sign agreements on trade and rare earths.
Takaishi, a student of Trump’s late friend and golf buddy Japanese leader Shinzo Abe, praised Trump’s efforts to resolve global conflicts and pledged to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to Trump’s spokeswoman, Carolyn Levitt.
The two governments released a list of projects in energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals in which Japanese companies are eyeing investments of up to $400 billion in the United States.
Tokyo pledged $550 billion in US strategic investments, loans and guarantees earlier this year as part of a deal to get relief from punitive import duties imposed by Trump.
The gestures may temper any Trump demands for Tokyo to spend more on its security in the face of an increasingly assertive China, calls that Takaishi has sought to head off by promising to accelerate plans to increase defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product.
“Everything I know from Shinzo and others, you will be one of the great prime ministers,” Trump told Takaishi as they sat down for discussions, accompanied by their delegations, at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo.
“I also want to congratulate you on becoming the first female Prime Minister. It’s a big deal,” Trump added.
Takechi recalls Abe’s legacy
Takaichi repeatedly noted Abe’s affection for Trump and gifted him the former prime minister’s glass-encased putter, a golf bag signed by Japanese major winner Hideki Matsuyama, and a gold-leafed golf ball, photos that Trump’s aide Margo Martin posted on X.
Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his 2016 election victory, and the two continued to form a close bond during several rounds of golf in the United States and Japan.
Over a lunch of rice, American beef, and vegetables from Takaichi’s hometown of Nara, she presented Trump with a map of major investments made by Japanese companies in the United States since his last visit in 2019.
Among the Japanese companies on the list of potential future investors are Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, SoftBank, Hitachi, Murata Manufacturing, Panasonic, and others.
Trump said Japanese automaker Toyota will also open car factories in the United States worth up to $10 billion.
Toyota did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Deal on critical metals
Trump praised Japan’s efforts to buy more US defense equipment, while Takaishi said his role in securing a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, Israel and Palestinian militants, was an “unprecedented” achievement.
They signed an agreement to boost supplies of vital minerals and rare earths, as their countries seek to reduce China’s dominance in some areas of key electronic components.
After lunch, Trump met with relatives of people kidnapped by North Korea in the 1960s and 1970s. While some were later repatriated, Japan continues to pressure Pyongyang to provide a full report on all those abducted and return any who survived, a cause that Abe has championed.
“The United States is with them all the way,” Trump told reporters after welcoming the families. He has repeatedly said he is open to meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his five-day visit to Asia.
The US President began his trip in Malaysia on Sunday, before traveling to Japan late on Monday to receive a royal reception at the Imperial Palace.
He hopes to conclude his trip, his longest overseas trip since returning to the White House in January, by agreeing a trade war truce with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday.
A visit to the US Naval Base
Analysts said Takaishi’s efforts to invoke Abe’s legacy to forge a relationship with Trump could help shore up her weak political position at home and help her deal with Trump’s sometimes erratic decision-making.
Although she has seen a rise in public support since becoming prime minister, her coalition government is two votes behind a majority in the lower house of parliament.
Later, Trump and Takaishi flew aboard his presidential helicopter to the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier George Washington, which was docked at Yokosuka Naval Base near Tokyo.
There, Trump delivered an hour-long speech that ranged from topics such as the US southern border and inflation to American football and the possibility of deploying “more than one National Guard” in “troubled” US cities.
Trump, flanked by two fighter jets, led Takaichi to the stage in front of 6,000 American sailors.
“This woman is a winner,” he said, before Takaishi thanked the troops for their help in defending the country and the region. Japan hosts the largest concentration of US military power abroad.
Trump added that deliveries would begin this week on Japan’s long-awaited order for US missiles for F-35 fighter jets.
“I told the president that I want to work with him to build a new chapter in the Japan-US alliance that will make the two countries stronger and more prosperous,” Takaishi told reporters after his return to Tokyo.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi on Wednesday.
Trump is scheduled to meet with business leaders in Tokyo later on Tuesday, before traveling on Wednesday to South Korea to meet with President Lee Jae-myung ahead of his summit with Xi on Thursday.
—Trevor Honeycutt, Tim Kelly and John Geddy, Reuters
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(tags for translation)Donald Trump
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