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President Donald Trump said Japan was “stepping up to the plate” over the Iran conflict as he welcomed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to the White House just days after urging Tokyo to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
Sitting beside Takaichi in the Oval Office after the pair embraced each other outside the White House, Trump said they would discuss Japan’s support for the war against Iran after being asked how satisfied he was with their efforts.
“We’ve had tremendous support and relationship with Japan on everything and . . . based on statements that were given to us . . . they are really stepping up to the plate,” Trump said, before adding, “unlike Nato”.
“I expect Japan to step up because we have that kind of relationship and we step up for Japan. We have 45,000 soldiers in Japan. We spend a lot of money on Japan.”
The president said he did not need help from Japan but that it was “appropriate” for the country to help, particularly since the vast majority of its oil imports transit the Strait of Hormuz. “That’s a big reason to step up.”
Ahead of the meeting, Japanese officials were nervous that Trump would put public pressure on her to send warships to the Gulf.
Takaichi said the situation in the Middle East had created a “very severe security environment” and that the global economy would “experience a huge hit”.
But, using a tactic frequently deployed by world leaders to reduce tension with Trump, she added that only he was capable of tackling the current situation.
“I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world.”
Officials in Tokyo said ahead of the visit that Takaichi would be effusive in her praise for Trump, having judged that a combination of flattery and sizeable pledges of investment and economic co-operation would distract from Japan’s reluctance to dispatch military vessels to the Gulf.
“Takaichi channelled her mentor Shinzo Abe in the meeting,” said Yuki Tatsumi, senior director at the Institute for Indo-Pacific Security, referring to Japan’s former leader, who had a strong relationship with Trump.
Tatsumi said Takaichi was “effusive in her praise of Trump” but also focused on substance, including saying Japan would work with other world leaders “to prepare for international effort to keep the Strait of Hormuz safe at an ‘appropriate time’”.
She added that Trump had responded well, including with a comment that he would “be singing Japanese praises in Beijing” when he travels to China for a summit with President Xi Jinping.
People familiar with a private official meeting between the two leaders that took place later in the afternoon said Takaichi explained that Japan could not legally send warships or minesweepers to the strait while conflict was ongoing. One of the people said Trump did not put any pressure on Takaichi to send ships.
Later, at a White House dinner, Trump and Takaichi again hailed the strong US-Japan relationship as the prime minister offered a gift of 250 cherry trees for Washington.
Ahead of the dinner, Takaichi said on X that the two leaders had agreed to collaborate on efforts towards the “early realisation of peace and stability in the Middle East region, including energy security”.
She also said they had agreed to bolster the alliance to support “peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific”.
Tokyo has been frustrated that Trump failed to offer public support for Takaichi after she was criticised by Beijing for saying that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would legally justify Japan deploying its military in a conflict.
As part of her effort to maintain the strong rapport established when Trump visited Tokyo in October, Takaichi repeatedly called him “Donald”.
Trump commended Takaichi for her Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s recent election. “Congratulations on the biggest win in the history of Japan . . . It’s a tremendous victory.”
He also praised her efforts to speak partly in English and joked, “I haven’t picked up your language. The next time you come I’ll have your language.”
But in an awkward moment that will probably go down badly in Japan, he mentioned the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during the second world war when asked why he did not warn allies about the US attack on Iran.
“We didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprises than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” Trump said in response to a question from a Japanese reporter.
Following their meeting, the Japanese embassy released several joint documents outlining commercial projects and investments Japan would make in the US. The deals included $33bn for the construction of natural gas generation facilities in Pennsylvania and Texas that would also help supply power to co-located data centres.
The two sides also announced a joint action plan on critical minerals designed to mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities. They listed several projects related to critical minerals and rare earths but many of them were aspirational rather than signed deals.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer said the allies were “taking an important step to expand the production and diversity of critical minerals, laying the foundation for a binding plurilateral agreement supported by price floors and other measures”.
