Tokyo, October 27: U.S. President Donald Trump received a royal welcome in Japan on Monday, the latest stop on a five-day Asia tour he hopes to conclude with an agreement to ease trade tensions with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump, on his longest overseas trip since taking office in January, arrived in Tokyo after announcing a series of trade and critical minerals deals with four Southeast Asian nations during his first stop in Malaysia. He is expected to meet Xi in South Korea on Thursday, where negotiators from the world’s two largest economies have already outlined a framework to pause steeper U.S. tariffs and Chinese export curbs on rare earths.
The prospect of a deal sent Asian markets soaring to record highs. “I’ve got a lot of respect for President Xi and I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One before landing in the Japanese capital.
Wearing a gold tie and blue suit, Trump disembarked to cheers and gave a few fist pumps before taking a helicopter ride over Tokyo’s skyline, where several towers were lit in red, white and blue in his honor.
At the Imperial Palace, Trump was greeted by Emperor Naruhito, continuing a tradition that began in 2019 when Trump became the first foreign leader to meet Japan’s monarch following his ascension to the throne. Thousands of police officers were deployed across Tokyo amid tight security after a knife-wielding man was arrested outside the U.S. embassy on Friday.
Japan has pledged a $550 billion investment in U.S. projects in exchange for relief from Washington’s punitive import tariffs. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Japanese counterpart Ryosei Akazawa, who helped broker the original tariff deal in July, discussed potential cooperation in power grid development over a sushi lunch in Tokyo, local media reported.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female premier who took office last week, plans to announce new purchases of U.S. pickup trucks, soybeans, and liquefied natural gas, as well as an agreement on shipbuilding, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
Takaichi, a close ally of Trump’s late friend and former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe, told the U.S. president in a weekend phone call that strengthening the bilateral alliance was her “top priority.” Trump praised her leadership, saying, “I think she’s going to be great.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also met Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama to discuss Japan’s proactive fiscal policy and investment commitments, though no talks were held on the Bank of Japan’s monetary stance, Katayama said.
Formal discussions between Trump and Takaichi will take place Tuesday at Akasaka Palace, where the U.S. president will be welcomed by a military honor guard. Takaichi is expected to reaffirm Tokyo’s willingness to expand its defense role after pledging last week to accelerate Japan’s largest military buildup since World War Two.
Japan hosts the largest concentration of U.S. military forces overseas, and Trump has repeatedly called on Tokyo to shoulder a greater share of its defense costs. While Takaichi has committed to increasing defense spending to 2% of GDP, further hikes could face resistance in Japan’s divided parliament.
Trump is scheduled to leave Japan on Wednesday for Gyeongju, South Korea, where he will meet President Lee Jae Myung. Treasury Secretary Bessent said a framework for a trade deal with Seoul is in place but will not be finalized this week.
The U.S. president’s highly anticipated meeting with Xi Jinping on Thursday will follow months of tariff escalations and threats to curb trade in critical minerals and technologies. While neither side expects a full restoration of pre-trade war conditions, officials hope the talks will de-escalate tensions and lay groundwork for a broader accord.
