US President Donald Trump began a visit to Japan on Monday, meeting with Emperor Naruhito ahead of talks with newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, on an Asian tour aimed at securing trade deals, investments, and increased defence spending. Trump, on his longest trip abroad since taking office in January, has already announced a series of deals with Southeast Asian nations and oversaw the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia during his first stop in Malaysia. His tour is expected to conclude on Thursday with a crucial summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, as negotiators from the world's two largest economies work to avert a renewed trade war. "Just left Malaysia, a great and vibrant country," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform before departing. "We made major trade deals, rare earths deals, and, most importantly, signed the Peace Treaty between Thailand and Cambodia. NO WAR, MILLIONS OF LIVES SAVED. A great honor to have gotten it done. Now, on to JAPAN!" Imperial reception Trump's first official activity in Japan was a meeting with Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo. Trump was the first foreign leader to meet Naruhito after he ascended the throne in 2019. While the emperor's role is purely symbolic, the substantive diplomatic engagement will take place with Prime Minister Takaichi on Tuesday. Thousands of police were deployed in Tokyo for Trump's arrival after a man with a knife was arrested outside the US embassy on Friday, and with an anti-Trump protest planned in the Shinjuku district. Takaichi, who became Japan's first female prime minister last week, told Trump in their first phone call on Saturday that strengthening the alliance between the two countries was her "top priority." A close ally of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who forged a strong bond with Trump, she appears to have already made a positive impression. "She's fantastic," Trump told reporters on Saturday after their call. "A very close ally and friend of Prime Minister Abe, and you know he was a favourite of mine." The two are scheduled to meet at the nearby Akasaka Palace, the same venue where Trump met Abe six years ago. Sanae Takaichi Investment and defence While Trump has already secured a $550 billion investment pledge from Japan in exchange for relief from import tariffs, Takaichi is hoping to further strengthen the relationship with promises to purchase American-made pickup trucks, soybeans, and gas. In addition to investment pledges, Takaichi is expected to affirm Tokyo's readiness to do more on security. She told parliament on Friday that she would accelerate Japan's largest defence build-up since World War Two. Japan hosts the largest concentration of US troops outside the United States, and Trump has previously criticised Tokyo for not spending enough on its own defence. Although Takaichi has said she will fast-track a plan to raise defence spending to 2% of GDP, sources told Reuters she will struggle to commit to any additional increases Trump might demand, given her weak political position. To do so, she would need parliamentary approval, where the ruling coalition is two seats short of a majority in the powerful lower house. The visit has fuelled hopes of a breakthrough in US-China trade talks, sending Asian markets rallying on Monday. US officials said negotiators from both countries had hammered out a framework on Sunday for a deal to pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earth export controls.
