Ishiba, Headed to White House, Aims to Convince Trump of Need for Strong Alliance

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:09 JST, February 7, 2025

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who arrived in the suburb of Washington on Thursday local time, was set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday morning local time (early Saturday Japan time). The prime minister hoped to make a joint statement that mentions the strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance and U.S. involvement in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ishiba was to be the second foreign leader to hold in-person talks with Trump, who took office on Jan. 20. The first was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I’ll be seeing Trump in person, and I will work with him to build a relationship of trust,” Ishiba told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office before leaving for the United States on Thursday. “I hope to reaffirm bilateral cooperation toward a free and open Indo-Pacific, as well as toward global development and world peace.”

The key question for the meeting was whether Ishiba could get Trump to agree on the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance, since Trump has sought to put his own country first. Ishiba planned to try to obtain the president’s understanding by explaining a plan to raise Japan’s defense spending to 2% of its gross domestic product, and by telling him how Japan is helping to create jobs in the United States as the world’s largest investor in the country. He also intended to coordinate stances on China, North Korea, Russia and international issues.

There had been negotiations toward a joint statement that would call for a “golden age” of Japan-U.S. relations, as well as closer economic cooperation in areas such as the development of semiconductors and generative artificial intelligence. The statement was also expected to say that Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which requires the U.S. to defend Japan, applies to the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, and probably stress the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Ishiba has tried to meet with Trump twice, as he has wanted to build a relationship with him as soon as possible.

In November, just after the U.S. presidential election, Ishiba considered stopping in the United States on his way back to Japan after his visit to Latin America. However, the plan was scrapped, with U.S. law and other reasons cited for why it was canceled.

In December, Akie Abe, the widow of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, visited the United States. After her visit, Trump’s team proposed holding a meeting between Ishiba and Trump in mid-January. “The sooner, the better, if possible,” Ishiba told his aides, and Japan sought to realize the meeting. However, Trump’s side did not present concrete dates and the meeting was put off.

Since the upcoming meeting will be the first official talks with Trump since he was sworn in, Japan hopes to produce a document demonstrating Japan-U.S. solidarity to both domestic and foreign audiences.

Abe, who built a close relationship with Trump during his first presidency, first met officially with Trump on Feb. 10, 2017. The meeting between Ishiba and Trump comes three days earlier in Trump’s presidential term. “This suggests the U.S. president views Japan as important,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.

However, given Trump’s unpredictable behavior, which has unsettled many countries, Japanese government officials were concerned about what he would say. At a joint press conference after the meeting, Trump would have the chance to demand a further increase in defense spending, call for higher tariffs on goods coming from Japan, or mention Nippon Steel Corp.’s proposed acquisition of United States Steel Corp.

Ishiba is scheduled to return to Japan on Saturday.