On Thursday, when Trump delivered his endorsement of Takaichi via social media, he also took the unusual step of announcing before the results of the voting that she would visit the White House on Mar 19.
In that post, Trump said United States and Japan have been working to strike a “very substantial” deal on trade, as well as collaborating on national security. Trump offered his “Complete and Total Endorsement” of Takaichi.
Takaichi on Sunday thanked Trump for his “warm words” endorsing her, writing on X that “the potential of our Alliance is LIMITLESS.”
US-Japan trade was US$317 billion in 2024, and the two nations also have a longstanding security alliance, with some 50,000 US forces based in Japan, a lynchpin of the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific.
Takaichi is viewed as a hawk on China, America’s chief strategic rival, and has suggested that Japan could intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take self-ruled Taiwan by force.