Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, is preparing for her first meeting with US President Donald Trump this week, and her most powerful diplomatic tool may not be policy but personal history — her deep connection to the late Shinzo Abe, Trump’s closest ally in Asia.
Takaichi’s ‘golden chance’ to impress Trump
Takaichi became Japan’s first female prime minister last week. She will meet Trump in Tokyo on Tuesday as part of his state visit. While she doesn’t share Trump’s love of golf or hamburgers, she is expected to lean on her ties to Abe, her mentor and political role model, to build rapport with the American president.“She will be looking to cloak herself in the mantle of Abe to persuade Trump that she is his woman in Asia and a steadfast partner that he can count on,” said Mira Rapp-Hooper, a partner at the Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm.Abe was assassinated in 2022 and was widely seen as a master at managing Trump during his first term. The two leaders developed a personal bond over lavish state dinners, golf outings, and mutual admiration. Takaichi, analysts say, has studied Abe’s style closely — and now has a “golden chance” to reset the Japan–US relationship under her leadership.“She has studied how Prime Minister Abe handled President Trump,” said Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, Japan’s former ambassador to Washington. “She learned a lot from him. And if she and President Trump can start talking about how great Shinzo Abe was, I think they won’t be able to disagree on anything.”
Trump in Tokyo: What’s on the agenda?
Trump arrived in Tokyo on Monday and will meet Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace before sitting down with Takaichi for lunch at Akasaka Palace. He is also expected to address American troops stationed in Japan, which hosts more than 50,000 US military personnel.On the agenda are two major issues: trade and defence. Japan has committed to investing $550 billion in the United States, and Takaichi is likely to seek a stronger say in how that money is spent. Meanwhile, Trump is expected to press her to accelerate military spending and deepen Japan’s role in countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.Takaichi has already pledged to raise defence expenditure to 2 per cent of Japan’s GDP by next spring — two years earlier than planned. Her commitment aligns with Trump’s long-standing demand for US allies to shoulder more of their defence costs.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend
Like Abe, Takaichi has also voiced support for Taiwan and warned against China’s militarisation of the South China Sea. Earlier this year, she met Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, to call for stronger security ties, a move that Beijing did not like. Notably, Chinese President Xi Jinping has yet to publicly congratulate her on her election victory.Analysts believe Takaichi will use the meeting to gauge Trump’s current stance on China and Taiwan. “Japanese officials want to know what the American strategy in the Indo-Pacific is,” said Jeffrey W. Hornung, a Japan expert at the RAND Corporation.Trade will also be high on the agenda. In July, Japan secured a 15 per cent tariff on exports, lower than the rate initially threatened by the Trump administration, in exchange for its large-scale investment commitment. Both sides are still negotiating the finer details of how that money will be channelled into investments and loan guarantees.
