Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi seems to have successfully captured the lightning of late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in endearing herself to President Donald Trump.
Referring to the president as her “wonderful ally and friend,” Takaichi rolled out the red carpet for the U.S. leader with an honor guard, imperial sit-down, and a rally with U.S. servicemembers stationed in the country.
Nicholas Szechenyi, senior fellow at the Japan Chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said her charm offensive “could potentially become a blueprint for how allies of the United States should engage President Trump.”
“There was a lot of concern in Japan leading up to his visit that he might press Japan on trade issues or on defense spending and make demands of Japan as an ally — which we’ve seen in other contexts,” Szechenyi told the Washington Examiner. “But [Takaichi] basically, preemptively announced her policy agenda, which is focused mainly on strengthening Japan’s defense capabilities, spending war on defense, and reaffirming Japan’s commitment to a trade agreement that the previous government reached with Trump earlier this year.”
He continued, “So she basically was able to reaffirm Japan’s value as an ally to President Trump and thereby establish a strong personal connection with him, which will generate some momentum for the U.S.-Japan relationship going forward.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the prime minister even promised to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The prime minister — the first female head of government in the nation’s modern history — is in many ways a disciple of the late Abe, who enjoyed among the most high-profile friendships with Trump during his first administration.
She gifted Trump the late statesman’s golf putter as a gesture of continued friendship between the governments and new hats that declare “Japan is back,” mimicking the general aesthetic of the “Make America Great Again” hats of Trump’s campaigns.
“This woman is a winner,” Trump declared of Takaichi.
The friendship between Trump and Abe was documented early into the president’s first administration, with pictures emerging of the two sharing personal time together, including a now-famous selfie of the two on a golf course near Tokyo.
Following Abe’s assassination by 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami with an improvised firearm in 2022, the late prime minister’s relationship with Trump has taken on a mythical quality.
It can sometimes be hard to parse reality from legend in the accounts of Trump’s feelings about Abe, such as claims on Japanese television that the president occasionally tells staff, “I wish I could see Shinzo,” when tired or distressed.
However, it is undeniable that the president had a close relationship with Abe, whom he reportedly called “the greatest prime minister in Japan’s history,” and has taken the initiative to honor his legacy whenever possible.
He met with Akie Abe, the prime minister’s widow, during his visit. She gifted him a work of calligraphy she created with the word “peace.” Akie Abe has served as something of a Trump whisperer for the Japanese government since the death of her husband.
“This might sound like hyperbole, but I really believe that Abe was the spokesperson for Asia during Trump’s first term,” Szechenyi told the Washington Examiner. “He was the only Asian leader who established a strong connection with him and was able to talk about not only bilateral issues, but the importance of U.S. leadership in Asia overall.”
“And so strategically for Japan, that was really impactful. Fast forward to the second Trump term, and I think Japan and other U.S. allies have realized that what really matters is a personal relationship with the president,” he continued. ”He’s very much a top-down leader. Cabinet-to-Cabinet level meetings are fine, but to really establish an agenda, you have to connect at the leader level, and Takaichi, I think, passed that test and did a remarkable job in starting her own relationship with Trump.”
WHILE YOU WERE ASLEEP: THREE THINGS YOU MISSED ON TRUMP’S WHIRLWIND TOKYO TRIP
Trump will leave Japan on Wednesday for Busan, South Korea, where he will meet with leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.
Following the conference, he is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday to hash out the details of a long-awaited trade deal between the U.S. and China.
