For the First Time, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba Meets President Donald Trump at the White House

For the First Time, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba Meets President Donald Trump at the White House

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has made deep preparations to build a relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump during their first meeting. This week, he met with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who had recently visited Trump at the White House. Ishiba has also sought advice from his predecessor Fumio Kishida and spoken with the widow of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who built a close bond with Trump through golf.

Ishiba told reporters, "This is our first face-to-face discussion, so I want to focus on building a personal trust-based relationship between us."

Ishiba is seeking to restore the relationship between Trump and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who resigned in 2020 and was tragically assassinated in 2022. He stated that this trip is crucial for U.S.-Japan relations.

Ishiba will spend nearly 24 hours with Trump during this visit and will engage in a two-hour working-level discussion, including a joint press conference. He will return to Japan on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Ishiba will discuss global security, cybersecurity, space cooperation, and joint business opportunities in the development of artificial intelligence and semiconductor technologies to further strengthen U.S.-Japan relations.

Although Trump is concerned with U.S. economic discipline and is taking various steps under his "America First" policy to increase domestic production, Ishiba aims to remind him of Japan's long-standing commercial partnership during this visit.

Additionally, Ishiba may discuss with Trump the $14.1 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, which was blocked by the Biden administration for national security reasons. However, it is uncertain whether Ishiba will bring up this issue.

Japan has announced plans to increase its defense spending by 60% over the next five years, and this will also be part of the discussion with Trump.

Prime Minister Ishiba hopes to build a strong relationship with Trump and believes that Trump is a good listener, which will help in fostering successful diplomatic ties between the two leaders.