US President Donald Trump is travelling to Tokyo to meet Japan’s emperor and newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as part of an Asia trip aimed at securing trade deals, investment and increased defence spending.
Trump, on his longest journey abroad since taking office in January, announced a slew of deals with Southeast Asian countries and oversaw the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia during his first stop in Malaysia.
His trip is expected to conclude with a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, where the world’s two largest economies will seek to avert an escalation of their trade war.
While Trump has already landed a $US550 billion ($A842 billion) investment pledge from Japan in exchange for respite on punishing import tariffs, Takaichi is hoping to further impress him with promises to purchase US trucks, soybeans and gas.
Takaichi, who became Japan’s first female premier last week, told Trump strengthening their countries’ alliance was her “top priority” in their first phone call on Saturday.
Thousands of police have been deployed across the Japanese capital for Trump’s arrival, with the arrest of a knife-wielding man outside the US embassy on Friday and an anti-Trump protest planned in downtown Shinjuku adding to the tension.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his Japanese counterpart Ryosei Akazawa, architects of the tariff deal agreed in July, are set to hold a working lunch on Monday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, travelling with Trump alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is also expected to meet with his new counterpart Satsuki Katayama for the first time.
Trump’s first engagement in Japan will be to meet Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in the heart of Tokyo.
Trump was the first foreign leader to meet Naruhito after he came to the throne in 2019, continuing an imperial line that some claim is the world’s oldest hereditary monarchy.
Naruhito’s role, however, is purely symbolic and it will be with Takaichi on Tuesday that the meaty diplomacy will take place.
Takaichi was a close ally of assassinated Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, who formed a bond with Trump over hours spent on the golf course during his first term, and appears to have already impressed the US president.
“She’s great … we’re going to be seeing her very soon. She’s very friendly,” Trump told reporters on Saturday after their call.
“She was a very, very close ally and friend of Prime Minister Abe and you know he was one of my favourites.”
The two are due to meet at the nearby Akasaka Palace, the venue where Trump met Abe six years ago.
Takaichi is expected to reassure Trump that Tokyo is willing to do more on security after telling MPs on Friday she would accelerate Japan’s biggest defence build-up since World War II.
Japan hosts the biggest concentration of US forces abroad and Trump has previously complained that Tokyo is not spending enough on defending its islands from an increasingly assertive China.
“Some kind of statement on standing shoulder-to-shoulder together to deter and respond to attempts to change the status quo in the region by force or coercion would be useful,” said Kevin Maher, a Japan expert at NMV Consulting in Washington and former US diplomat.
While Takaichi has said she will accelerate a plan to increase defence spending to two per cent of GDP, she might struggle to commit Japan to any further increases that Trump asks for, as her ruling coalition does not have a majority in parliament.
Trump is due to leave on Wednesday for Gyeongju, where he will first hold talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
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