President Donald Trump on Friday said after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that they agreed on additional cooperation in countering “Chinese economic aggression.”
Trump, speaking at a joint press conference in Washington with Ishiba, also said Japan would import new levels of US natural gas “in record numbers.”
Trump adds that his administration has approved $1bn in foreign military sales to Tokyo.
He goes on to say Japan has committed to double its defense spending by 2027 compared to his first term as president.
“The US is committed to the security of Japan,” he says.
“We will extend the full strength of American deterrence capabilities and defend our friend and ally 100% in the years to come.”
Ishiba, who is only the second foreign leader to visit the White House since Trump returned to power, heaped praise on the US president as he tried to build a bond with the mercurial Trump.
As they met in the Oval Office, Ishiba hailed Trump’s “undaunted presence, that you stood up and you raised your fist high in the sky” after the Republican survived an assassination attempt last year.
The Japanese premier — whose country is a key US ally against a rising China and a nuclear-armed North Korea — said his country was the biggest investor in the United States and would step up its spending.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says he and Donald Trump have affirmed the need to address North Korea’s nuclear and missile program.
“Japan and the US will work together toward the complete denuclearisation of North Korea,” he adds.
