Japan passes first Trump test with perfect timing
The friendly meeting also gives Ishiba a stronger hand heading into negotiations with Japanese lawmakers over his 115.5 trillion yen ($759 billion) budget
After months of speculation on whether Shigeru Ishiba would be able to rekindle the bonhomie his predecessor Shinzo Abe had with Donald Trump, the Japanese prime minister has proven he knows how to deliver exactly what the US President wants - and not a moment too soon.
Indeed, the post-summit memo reads like a laundry list of Trump's top concerns asked and answered. Chief among these was closing Japan's $69 billion trade deficit, which the US president described as "pretty easy to do." Ishiba, for his part, promised to boost Japanese investment in the world's biggest economy to $1 trillion and buy more of its liquified natural gas.
These pledges ride on existing trends: Japan's imports of American LNG rose 15% last year, per finance ministry figures. And its foreign direct investment position stateside already stood at about $780 billion in 2023 — the largest of any country. Though Ishiba's promise that Nippon Steel (5401.T), will invest in US Steel, instead of trying to buy the iconic company outright through an acquisition Trump has opposed, was met by silence from the Tokyo-based company.
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In return for all of this - plus a gift to Trump of a golden samurai helmet, the prime minister received endorsement of Japan's security concerns on issues ranging from China to North Korea and Russia.
Ishiba's relatively strong hand means he can afford some of the optimism he expressed following his White House summit about averting US levies. But any such reprieve would mark a stark exception to the new tariffs Trump has vowed are coming for many trading partners this week. Other issues for Japan, including being caught in the middle of the US-China tech war, may cause more friction later.
The friendly meeting also gives Ishiba a stronger hand heading into negotiations with Japanese lawmakers over his 115.5 trillion yen ($759 billion) budget. The fact Trump didn't publicly push for more military spending suggests Tokyo's current, already record-high defense spending plan, equivalent to 1.4% of its GDP forecast for 2025, is adequate for now.
His new status as a successful Trump wrangler strengthens the prime minister's weak position within his Liberal Democratic Party which recently lost its parliamentary majority. He may not be Abe, but Ishiba appears capable of keeping his mercurial US counterpart placated, so far as that is possible.
