The meeting that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will have at the White House on Thursday originally seemed like a prime opportunity to have President Donald Trump’s ear before he embarked on a trip to China.
But now, the war in Iran and Trump’s unsuccessful call for Japan and other nations to help protect the Strait of Hormuz means the China trip has been delayed and Takaichi may be likely to get an earful.
Trump has repeatedly complained on camera and online that US allies, including Japan, have rejected his request to help safeguard the critical waterway for oil and gas transport.
“In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!” Trump exclaimed on Truth Social after his initial call for help was rebuffed.
The prime minister acknowledged before she left Japan that she expects her meeting with Trump will be “very difficult.”
She and her ministers have denied that Washington officially requested Japanese warships for the U.S.-Israeli operation.
Japan, a key US ally in Asia, is one of the countries that Trump namechecked on Tuesday as he railed against the lack of help with the Strait of Hormuz before declaring the help wasn’t needed.
Trump is expected to put “enormous pressure” on Takaichi, said Kurt Campbell, the former US deputy secretary of state in the Biden administration who is now chair of The Asia Group.
Campbell said he’s never seen a meeting between US and Japanese leaders carrying such high stakes. In order to press for Japan’s interests, he said, Takaichi will want to find a way to suggest that Japan is a part of the US plan in the Middle East.
“She’s going to want to come out of that as a partner in this case and realise that if she can do that, that she can translate that potentially into the president listening more to Japanese concerns about Taiwan or other issues,” Campbell said.
