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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.
Ahead of their private meeting, Takaichi said she wanted to discuss the security situation in the Indo-Pacific, which she said was becoming “increasingly severe”.
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 also praised 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.”
The president 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.
Japanese officials said ahead of the visit that Takaichi would need to balance praise for Trump with a firm position on the country’s military involvement in the Gulf. Recent polls showed that 82 per cent of Japanese opposed the US attack on Iran.
Despite her landslide election victory, the trip exposes vulnerabilities for Takaichi. Her reluctance to make a formal comment on the legality of US actions in Iran is disapproved of by 51 per cent of Japanese, according to opinion polls.
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