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President Donald Trump arrives Monday in Japan where new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is banking on building a friendly personal relationship with the US leader to ease trade tensions.
The meeting is an early diplomatic test for Takaichi, the first woman to lead Japan. She took office only last week, and has a tenuous coalition backing her.
Trump spent Sunday in Malaysia, where he participated in a regional summit.
Trump said he would talk about the “great friendship” between the US and Japan during his visit.
“I hear phenomenal things” about the new Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, Trump said. He noted her closeness with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with whom Trump had a good relationship during his first term.
“It’s going to be very good,” he said. “That really helps Japan and the United States.”
Trade has been Trump’s focus in Asia
There’s no shortage of security issues in the region, including access to the South China Sea and the future of Taiwan. But Trump’s focus has undoubtedly been trade and his desire to realign the international economy in his vision of “America first.”
For the most part, that means tariffs, or at least the threat of them. Trump has frequently used taxes on imports — from allies and adversaries alike — in an effort to boost domestic manufacturing or seek more favorable terms.
However, his unilateral power to enact tariffs remains contested. Trump is awaiting a Supreme Court case that could solidify his authority or limit it.
Trump’s last stop was Malaysia
The president is flying to Tokyo from Kuala Lumpur, where he attended the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He participated in a ceremonial signing of an expanded ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia, which fought earlier this year. Trump helped pressure both countries to stop by threatening to withhold trade agreements.
The summit is not a guaranteed part of any president’s itinerary, but it was an opportunity for Trump to reengage with a critical region for the first time since returning to office.
In addition, American and Chinese negotiators used the summit to advance trade talks, with the potential for an agreement that would reduce tensions between the world’s two largest economies later this week.
Trump congratulates Argentina’s Milei on midterms success
While on his way to Japan, Trump posted on Truth Social that Argentine President Javier Milei was “doing a wonderful job” as his party beat expectations in midterm elections.
“Our confidence in him was justified by the People of Argentina,” Trump wrote.
Trump ally Milei essentially received a vote of confidence to pursue his policies to break long-standing inflation and economic problems in Argentina. A libertarian seeking to unlock free-market forces, Milei has endeared himself to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement with an appearance this year at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the US
The Trump administration provided a $20 billion credit swap line to bolster Milei ahead of the election and was looking to provide an additional $20 billion to support the value of Argentina’s peso.
Japan tightens security ahead of Trump’s arrival
Japan’s capital saw heightened security ahead of US President Donald Trump’s arrival on Monday. Tokyo’s metropolitan police set up a special taskforce and mobilized some 18,000 officers.
At Tokyo’s Haneda airport, where Trump will arrive, all lockers and garbage bins were closed or removed.
In downtown Tokyo, vehicles were checked and police dogs were stationed near the US Embassy, where riot police were also deployed. One man was arrested for allegedly carrying knives outside the embassy.
Trump departs Malaysia for Japan
Trump is moving on to the second leg of his Asia tour, boarding Air Force One for Japan after time in Kuala Lumpur for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
The US president didn’t talk to gathered reporters as he walked the red carpet and watched dancers as he made his way to the airplane.
Still, the president felt his time in Malaysia was productive, calling it a “very vibrant” nation in a post on his social media site. Trump noted the ceasefire agreement signed between Thailand and Cambodia as well as trade frameworks that were part of his time with leaders.
“Now, off to Japan!!!” Trump said on Truth Social.

MELBOURNE: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he discussed Australia’s critical-minerals deal with the United States and the hostile maneuvers of a Chinese warplane during a “positive” meeting on Monday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
Albanese and China’s second-most senior leader held a bilateral meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ summit.
“Once again, it was a positive meeting,” Albanese told reporters of his seventh meeting with Li.
“This is a relationship that has improved; that is stabilising,” Albanese added.
China has removed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers since Albanese’s center-left government was first elected in 2022. The barriers imposed in 2020 when Beijing banned minister-to-minister bilateral contacts had cost Australian exporters up to $13 billion a year.
Albanese said he and Li had discussed the Australian leader’s visit to the US last week during which he and US President Donald Trump signed a $8.5 billion critical minerals deal.
The US is eyeing Australia’s rich rare earth resources at a time when China is imposing tougher rules on exporting its own critical minerals abroad.
“We talked about the relationship with the US I clearly have indicated the success of my visit to the United States and we talked in a common way about that it was a good thing that President Trump and President Xi (Jinping) are having a meeting over the next little period,” Albanese said.
Albanese did not directly answer when a reporter asked if Li had expressed an opinion on the US-Australia minerals pact.
China’s Xinhua news agency reported Li told Albanese China hoped Australia will provide an open, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese enterprises to invest and operate in the country.
China was also willing to cooperate with Australia on the green economy, high-tech industries and the digital sector, Li said.
Australia shares US concerns over China’s global dominance in critical minerals and control over supply chains in the renewable energy sector.
Last year, the Australian government ordered five China-linked companies to divest their shares in the rare earth mining company Northern Minerals, citing Australia’s national interests.
Australia’s foreign investment rules also prevent Chinese ownership of critical infrastructure.
Albanese said he had also raised with Li the behavior of a Chinese fighter jet during a confrontation with an Australian air force surveillance plane in international air space over the South China Sea on Oct. 19.
The Chinese Su-35 jet twice released flares “very close” to the Australian P-8 Poseidon aircraft, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said last week.
Australia officially protested what the government described as the Chinese air crew’s unsafe and unprofessional behavior.
Senior Col. Li Jianjian, a Chinese military spokesperson, accused the Australian aircraft of illegally entering the airspace of China’s Xisha Islands without Beijing’s approval.
“The actions of the Australian side seriously violated China’s sovereignty and could easily trigger unexpected maritime or aerial incidents. We sternly warn Australia to immediately cease its infringement and provocation,” the officer said in a statement last week.
Albanese said he told the premier “this was an incident of concern for Australia.”
“We have disagreements and friends are able to discuss issues frankly. I did that directly,” Albanese said.
Li “heard the message very directly. I’m not here to report in on … what people say when I have meetings,” Albanese added.
In July, Albanese said he complained about the Chinese military to President Xi Jinping during a bilateral meeting in Beijing. A Chinese flotilla had conducted a naval live-fire exercise off the Australian coast that forced commercial aircraft to change course in February.
The mission was widely regarded as a display of the Chinese military’s growing strength.
Albanese said he had raised with Li at a meeting in Australia last year recent clashes between the two countries’ militaries in the South China Sea and Yellow Sea that Australia argued endangered Australian personnel.