Sanae Takaichi told Trump the Japan–U.S. alliance is her top priority in their first call since she took office

Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held her first official phone call with Trump on Saturday, soon after taking office last ￰0￱ call came while Trump was aboard Air Force One, traveling toward Malaysia before heading to Japan and South ￰1￱ said she appreciated the congratulations and described the talk as “good and candid.” It was clear from her tone and her own words that she wanted no confusion about her stance on the ￰2￱ said she intends to place the alliance at the center of her foreign and security ￰3￱ also said she wants to work directly with regional partners toward what she called a Free and Open ￰4￱ later expanded on the ￰5￱ said, “I just finished a phone call with President ￰6￱ of all, he warmly congratulated me on my appointment as Prime Minister, and I was very grateful for his kind words.

I conveyed to him that strengthening the ￰7￱ is the top priority for my administration’s foreign and security ￰8￱ confirmed our shared commitment to further elevating the Alliance to new heights.” She also said she expressed respect for Trump’s handling of the recent situation in the Middle ￰9￱ added that Japan sees itself as indispensable to the United States in both China strategy and the Indo-Pacific ￰10￱ also thanked Trump for his previous support on the abduction issue and said she asked for continued cooperation on that ￰11￱ ended the statement by saying she looked forward to welcoming him in Tokyo ￰12￱ signals direction of Japan’s policy Takaichi’s political path has long been shaped by her late mentor, Shinzo Abe, who stepped down in 2020 and was assassinated in 2022.

Abe’s approach, known as Abenomics, involved government spending and cash handouts, even with Japan’s national debt standing near three times the size of the ￰13￱ has shown no intention of distancing herself from his political ￰14￱ rise has already had market effects, as shares of military-related companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Yaskawa Electric, and Japan Steel Works saw heavy ￰15￱ are betting that her government will put more weight on national defense and industrial capacity tied to ￰16￱ approach to defense lines up with Abe’s. She has made it clear that Japan will not sit lightly on regional ￰17￱ with Trump expected to arrive in Japan soon for direct talks, analysts are showing interest in how both leaders frame the next phase of the ￰18￱ has described Trump as “cheerful and engaging” after speaking with ￰19￱ said he knew details about her political history and even recalled memories of ￰20￱ said she thanked him for the friendship he has shown to Akie ￰21￱ priorities and economic commitments Takaichi has already touched on one sensitive topic: Japan’s pledge of $550 billion to the Trump administration under an earlier deal tied to ￰22￱ reductions on Japanese ￰23￱ previously suggested Japan might want to revisit the pledge, given public concern about sending Japanese taxpayer funds abroad, though she later said she would honor the ￰24￱ did not dwell on public dissatisfaction but pointed out that commitments already made will be ￰25￱ call also shows that both sides intend to keep close ￰26￱ said she aims to work side by side with the ￰27￱ partners in Asia to maintain the Indo-Pacific ￰28￱ reiterated that the alliance stands as the core of her ￰29￱ is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with her when he arrives in Japan later in his ￰30￱ meeting will likely touch on military cooperation, regional posture, and economic ￰31￱ regional tensions running high, neither side appears interested in guesswork or ￰32￱ your project in front of crypto’s top minds?

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