Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's first in-person meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump ended without friction or conflicting remarks, potentially offering valuable insights for other world leaders navigating his vision for a new America.
Among the various topics discussed, bilateral economic cooperation aligned with Trump's priorities was arguably central to their hours-long talks, carefully orchestrated by Japanese officials.
Ishiba's pledge to increase Japan's annual investment in the United States from about $800 billion to $1 trillion and boost liquefied natural gas purchases from the world's largest economy marked his initial effort to curry favor with Trump before building a personal relationship.
More importantly, Japan's apparent strategy of keeping the focus on economic issues helped minimize the risk of disrupting the trajectory of the Tokyo-Washington alliance, which remains as strong as ever.
In a symbolic move, a joint statement issued by Ishiba and Trump after their summit in Washington on Friday began with the first sentence declaring their agreement to pursue a "new golden age" in Japan-U.S. relations.
The wording, meant to set the tone for Japan-U.S. ties under Trump's second term, echoed the start of his Jan. 20 inauguration address, in which he proclaimed, "The golden age of America begins right now."
Riley Walters, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and an expert on Japan, said the most significant achievement for both sides was establishing their relationship.
Given that Trump clearly stated that the United States is "totally committed to the security of Japan," Walters added, "I don't think there should be any question anymore."
Very often, Trump is perceived as unilateralist in his approach to international relations. But his doctrine appears mainly about seeking reciprocity.
At a joint press conference with Ishiba, Trump looked especially pleased to announce that Japan will begin importing U.S. LNG in "record numbers," and the two countries will explore a joint venture of some type that has to do with Alaska oil and gas.
"That's very exciting," Trump said. "As we deepen our economic relationship, I made clear that the United States will be conducting trade with all countries based on the principle of fairness and reciprocity."
Trump expressed his strong desire to slash the U.S. trade deficit with Japan, but his tone was largely optimistic.
"We can work it out...We both understand that, and as America welcomes new foreign investment, we also want to ensure that companies build their products and factories here in America," the Republican president said.
In an extraordinary move for a Japanese prime minister, Ishiba criticized the previous Democratic administration, calling it "very unfortunate" that it had restricted energy exports. He said Trump's return to the White House had enabled this "very wonderful" development for Japan.
Ishiba added that Japan is interested in importing not only LNG but also bioethanol, ammonia, and other resources from the United States in a stable manner at reasonable prices.
As the meeting began in the Oval Office, during the portion open to the press, Ishiba referenced Trump's attempted assassination in July, saying, "I was very touched by your undaunted presence when you stood up and raised your fist in the sky."
He later reminded Trump that Japan had been the largest investor in the United States for the last five consecutive years.
Trump publicly praised Ishiba multiple times, similarly to his warm reception of SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son in December and again in January when Son announced massive artificial intelligence investments in the United States.
After happily giving Ishiba a photo book of the attempted assassination as a gift, Trump said Ishiba is "handsome" and has "the qualities of greatness."
"He's going to do a fantastic job," Trump said.
Although there were many doubts whether Ishiba could get along with Trump prior to the summit, Walters of the Washington-based think tank said, "Overall, it went well...There were no parts that seemed to have really stuck out as controversy."
"There's definitely a strong foundation for cooperation. And there's also a lot of optimism going forward," he said.
© KYODO
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Asiaman7
Japan received a useless photo book after presenting Trump with a golden samurai helmet priced at 168,000 yen. What an enormous waste of our Japanese taxes!
According to the Reagan Library …
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Foreign official gifts over a “minimal value” are considered gifts to the people of the United States, which the recipient must purchase from the General Services Administration at fair market value in order to retain. The White House Gift Unit sees to the disposition of foreign official gifts that the President and First Lady do not retain.
Most foreign official gifts which the President and First Lady do not retain for themselves are transferred to the National Archives by the Gift Unit, and become part of a presidential library museum collection.
JeffLee
Not surprising. Both are on the same economic page, ie, "new capitalism."
Both want to dismantle the old globalization-loving, neo-liberal free-trade system. In Japan's case, it was espoused by Kisida, prompted mostly by the fear of widening inequality and a desire to redistribute the nation's wealth. In Trump's case, it's mostly fear of China, including the illict fentanyl percursor imports. Interesting times.
lincolnman
Trump making his daily embarrassment appearance...proving every day how deep into Alzheimer's he is...
dbsaiya
He's going to invest that much? Is he speaking for Japanese corporations or is he speaking on behalf of taxpayers? Why don't you invest in your own country that has enough problems of its own. Remind trump that Japan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities. Sounds like Ishiba got the short end of the stick. I imagine he's going to return to Japan like Chamberlain and declare that we have peace in our time.