Trump gets royal welcome in Japan, eyes China deal
John Geddie, Tim Kelly and Trevor Hunnicutt |
US President Donald Trump has received a royal welcome in Japan, the latest leg of a five-day Asia trip which he hopes to cap with an agreement on a trade war truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump, on his longest journey abroad since taking office in January, announced deals with four Southeast Asian countries during the first stop in Malaysia and will conclude his trip at a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
Negotiators from the world’s top two economies hashed out a framework on Sunday for a deal to pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, US officials said – news that drove Asian stocks to record peaks.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for President Xi and I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One before landing in the Japanese capital Tokyo.
Wearing a gold tie and blue suit, Trump shook hands with officials on the tarmac and gave a few fist pumps, before his helicopter whisked him off for a scenic night tour of Tokyo.
His motorcade was later seen entering the Imperial Palace grounds, where he met Japanese Emperor Naruhito.
Trump has already landed a $US550 billion ($A842 billion) investment pledge from Tokyo in exchange for respite from punishing import tariffs.
Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is hoping to further impress Trump with promises to purchase US trucks, soybeans and gas and announce an agreement on shipbuilding, sources with knowledge of the plans told Reuters.
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.
Trump said he was looking forward to meeting Takaichi, a close ally of his late friend and golfing partner, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, adding, “I think she’s going to be great”.
Thousands of police are guarding Tokyo. A knife-wielding man was arrested on Friday outside the US embassy and an anti-Trump protest is planned in downtown Shinjuku.
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 his new counterpart, Satsuki Katayama, for the first time.
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.
Trump and Takaichi are due to meet at the nearby Akasaka Palace, the venue where Trump met Abe six years ago, and will be welcomed by a military honour guard.
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.
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.
Bessent told reporters the overall framework of a deal with South Korea was also done but would not be finalised this week.
Reuters
