Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sailed smoothly past a potential clash with Donald Trump on Iran – although the US President whipped up a bit of a storm about Pearl Harbour.
Days after lashing out at US allies, including Japan, for failing to heed his calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump praised Tokyo’s efforts related to the Middle East war in vague terms.
“I believe that, based on statements [which] were given to us yesterday, the day before yesterday, having to do with Japan, they are really stepping up to the plate,” Trump told reporters as he hosted Takaichi in the Oval Office.
After a long pause, Trump then added “unlike Nato”, repeating his criticisms of the US-led military alliance with mainly European countries.
Trump gave few details about what help Japan might provide in securing the crucial waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes.
But his tone towards Takaichi was far more friendly than the tongue-lashings he has given to allies, including British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, on the issue in recent days.
“I’m very proud of you. We’ve become friends,” Trump said of Japan’s first female premier, whom he backed before a landslide election victory in February.
The 64-year-old conservative was meanwhile seen giving Trump, 79, a big hug as she arrived earlier at the White House, according to footage released by one of Trump’s aides.
Sending its Self-Defence Forces abroad is politically sensitive in officially pacifist Japan, as many voters support the US-imposed, war-renouncing 1947 constitution.
But just over an hour before the Trump meeting, Japan and five other allies, including Britain and France, said they were ready “to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz”.
Trump said it would be “appropriate” for Japan and other allies to contribute – and noted that Japan gets around 90% of its oil through the strait.
But diplomacy is rarely simple with Trump.
And he proved so again when he was asked by a Japanese reporter why allies weren’t included in talks about the Iran strikes before they happened.
“Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbour?”
Takaichi sat back a little in her chair and her eyes widened as Trump mentioned Tokyo’s December 7, 1941, attack on the US Pacific fleet in Hawaii, which prompted the United States to enter World War II.
The Japanese PM, meanwhile, appeared to be keen to make the most of her time with the US President, which will also include a dinner.
She was twice seen ostentatiously looking at her watch as the press conference in the Oval Office neared its end.
But the meeting appeared to highlight once again Takaichi’s ability to charm Trump, following a similarly friendly meeting in Tokyo in October during which she said she would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
After the meeting, the two countries announced a US$40 billion ($68b) project to build nuclear reactors in Tennessee and Alabama, and a US$33b ($56.1b) investment in natural gas power generation facilities in Pennsylvania and Texas.
The deal came after Tokyo agreed last year to invest US$550b ($936b) in the United States through 2029 in return for lowering threatened tariffs by Washington to 15% from 25%.
Another reason Tokyo can ill afford to annoy Trump is that the United States has for decades – with 60,000 troops on Japanese soil – been the guarantor of Japan’s security.
The US security umbrella is particularly relevant in the face of an increasingly assertive China.
Polls published last week, however, suggest that Takaichi’s honeymoon following her election win is souring at home as pricier oil and gas from the Iran war risk making life more expensive for firms and families alike.
– Agence France-Presse