President Trump visits Japan to meet Emperor and Prime Minister
President Donald Trump visited Japan and met with Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to discuss trade, investment, and defense.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump appears to have secured another Nobel Peace Prize nomination — this time from Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.
She told him at a meeting in Tokyo that she intended to nominate his name for this prestigious award.
Takaichi is the latest in a string of foreign leaders to say they will nominate Trump for the award. He said he was deserving of the honor, which the award committee awarded to Venezuela’s opposition leader earlier this month.
President Trump congratulated Takaichi, who took office last week, as the first female prime minister, saying, “It’s a big deal, a big deal. I want to celebrate that. I think we have to say it out loud.”
Through an interpreter, she told Trump publicly that the world was “starting to enjoy more peace on earth” and praised Trump’s “unwavering commitment to global peace and stability.” Mr. Takaichi said this at the beginning of the meeting at Akasaka Imperial Palace.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt told reporters accompanying President Trump that Takaichi had privately informed him that he intended to nominate him for the Nobel Prize.
The leaders also agreed to work together to secure supply chains for critical minerals and rare earths, as the United States looks to Asian partners for help as China cracks down on exports of materials used to make computer chips, electric vehicles and military equipment.
A framework agreement signed by the United States and Japan requires each country to develop a coordinated plan to accelerate the delivery of processed minerals.
At the beginning of the talks, President Trump told Takaichi: “Whenever there is a question, a question, a desire, a favor needed, something I can do to help Japan, we will be there. We are our strongest allies.”
Takaichi, a close political ally of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, became friends with Trump after the 2016 presidential election and welcomed him to Tokyo the following year on his first Asian tour as president. Prime Minister Abe was assassinated in 2022.
The goodwill extended to Mr. Takaichi as well. After leaving Washington, Trump told reporters that he likes Prime Minister Abe and that she likes him too. “That’s a good sign.”
When the two leaders met for the first time in Tokyo and shook hands, the president said it was a “very strong handshake.”
Takaichi said he and Trump were running a little late because they were watching the start of the World Series.
She told President Trump that her country would gift 250 cherry trees to the United States to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary next year. He also said Japan would provide fireworks for the celebration.
Afterward, the leaders and advisors had a working lunch of American rice and beef prepared with Japanese ingredients. The White House said they discussed the Russia-Ukraine war and critical minerals.
