Trump to meet Japan’s new PM as trade deal and defence spending test their alliance

An early test for Sanae Takaichipublished at 00:32 GMT

00:32 GMT

Shaimaa Khalil
Tokyo correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

For Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi — Japan’s first female leader — it’s an early test of both her diplomacy and her leadership. She’s hosting Trump just days after taking office, at a moment when Japan faces a more uncertain regional landscape.

On defence and security, Tokyo will want to reaffirm that its defence alliance with Washington remains solid, especially as tensions simmer in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.

Takaichi wants to draw in more US investment while shielding key domestic sectors. The details of a new US-Japan tariff deal are still being worked out. And Japan – already investing more than $550bn in the US – will want that partnership to open doors for Japanese companies, especially in semiconductors and advanced manufacturing.

For Takaichi, a protégé of the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe — who built a famously close rapport with Trump — this is as much a test of personal diplomacy as policy. A chance to show she can manage Japan’s most important alliance — and hold her own on the world stage.