US President Donald Trump lavished praise on Japan's first female leader Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo today, welcoming her pledge to accelerate a military buildup and signing deals on trade and rare earths.
Ms Takaichi, a protegee of Mr Trump's late friend and golfing buddy Japanese leader Shinzo Abe, applauded Mr Trump's push to resolve global conflicts, vowing to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to Mr Trump's spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
Both governments released a list of projects in the areas of energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals in which Japanese companies are eyeing investments of up to $400bn in the US.
Tokyo pledged to provide $550bn of strategic US investments, loans and guarantees earlier this year as part of a deal to win a reprieve from Mr Trump's punishing import tariffs.
Those gestures may temper any Trump demands for Tokyo to spend more towards its security in the face of an increasingly assertive China, calls that Ms Takaichi sought to head off by promising to fast-track plans to increase defence spending to 2% of GDP.
"Everything I know from Shinzo and others, you will be one of the great prime ministers," Mr Trump told Ms Takaichi as they sat down to discussions, accompanied by their delegations, at Tokyo's Akasaka Palace.
"I'd also like to congratulate you on being the first woman prime minister. It's a big deal," Mr Trump added.
Ms Takaichi repeatedly referred to Mr Abe's affection for Mr Trump and gifted him the former prime minister's putter encased in glass, a golf bag signed by Japanese major winner Hideki Matsuyama and a gold-leaf golf ball, photographs posted on X by Mr Trump's assistant Margo Martin show.
Mr Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, was the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump after his 2016 election victory and the two went on to forge a close bond over several rounds of golf in the United States and Japan.
Over a lunch of US rice and beef, and vegetables from Ms Takaichi's hometown of Nara, she presented Mr Trump with a map of major investments Japanese firms have made in the United States since his last visit in 2019.
Japanese companies on the list of possible future investors included Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Softbank, Hitachi, Murata Manufacturing and Panasonic, among others.
Japanese carmaker Toyota would also open auto plants in the United States to the tune of $10bn, Mr Trump said.
Toyota did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Trump praised Japan's efforts to buy more US defence equipment, while Ms Takaichi said his role in securing ceasefires between Cambodia and Thailand, and Israel and Palestinian militants, was an "unprecedented" achievement.
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They signed a deal to bolster supplies of critical minerals and rare earths, as their nations seek to reduce China's dominance of some areas of key electronic components.
Mr Trump and Ms Takaichi later flew on his presidential helicopter to the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier George Washington, docked at the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo.
Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in South Korea to discuss a deal that would pause steeper US tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls.
Taiwan ties with US 'very stable', ahead of Trump-Xi meeting
Meanwhile, Taiwan foreign minister Lin Chia-lung said that he was not worried that Mr Trump would "abandon" the island in his meeting this week with Mr Xi in South Korea.
Since taking office earlier this year, Mr Trump has vacillated on his position towards China-claimed Taiwan as he seeks to strike a trade deal with Beijing.
Mr Trump says Mr Xi has told him he will not invade while the Republican president is in office, but Mr Trump has yet to approve any new US arms sales to Taiwan.
The fear in Taiwan, which has long enjoyed strong unofficial support from Washington, is that the Trump-Xi meeting this week could see some sort of "selling out" of Taiwan's interests by Mr Trump to Mr Xi.
Asked whether he was worried Mr Trump would "abandon" Taiwan at the Xi talks, Mr Lin told reporters in Taipei: "No, because our Taiwan-US relations are very stable".
"No matter whether on security, trade and business and other areas, there is close cooperation," he added.
The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but is bound by law to provide the democratically governed island with the means to defend itself, and the issue is a frequent irritant in Sino-US relations.
The APEC forum is one of the few international groupings that Taiwan takes part in, though it does not send its president to avoid political problems with China.
Speaking at the airport before leaving for South Korea, Taiwan's APEC representative, former economy minister Lin Hsin-i, said the summit was a good opportunity for "equal interactions" with other members attending.
Read: Trade, Taiwan and TikTok to dominate Trump-Xi meeting amid rising tensions
China has offered a "one country, two systems" model of autonomy to Taiwan, which all major parties in Taiwan have rejected.
In the past five years, China has ramped up military and diplomatic pressure against Taiwan, including regularly sending warplanes and warships into the skies and waters near the island.
In a commentary, China's official Xinhua news agency lambasted "separatists" but said the "situation will only become increasingly favourable for the just cause of supporting reunification".
Both sides can sit down and negotiate a "reasonable 'one country, two systems' solution" for Taiwan, which will respect Taiwan's existing social system, it added.
Taiwan's government says China has no right to claim or speak for the island internationally, and that only the Taiwanese people can decide their own future.
