OAN Staff Blake Wolf
9:20 AM – Monday, October 27, 2025
President Donald Trump arrived in Japan on Monday for his first meeting with newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Upon arrival, President Trump met with Japanese Emperor Naruhito at Tokyo’s Imperial Palace as part of his weeklong trip to Asia.
The president’s visit to Japan follows his visit to Malaysia, where he attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to oversee a ceasefire agreement signing ceremony he helped broker between Thailand and Cambodia.
During the president’s visit to Malaysia, he also reached trade agreements with Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
The president was also able to gain access to rare earth materials, inking additional deals with Thailand and Malaysia in response to China’s decision to tighten export controls on rare earth materials utilized in essential sectors such as the U.S. defense industry, consumer electronics, medical equipment, and electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, the president is set to meet with Takaichi on Tuesday in Tokyo, just one week after she became the first woman to serve as the prime minister of Japan.
Takaichi is branded as a hard-line conservative and protégé of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a friend of President Trump’s, making her a natural ally.
“I hear phenomenal things,” President Trump said aboard Air Force One on his way to Japan. “She was a great ally and friend of Shinzo Abe, who was my friend.”
“I know they were very close and I think philosophically they were close, which is good,” he continued. “That really helps Japan and the United States, I think she’s going to be great.”
During her campaign, Takaichi advocated for stronger immigration restrictions, increased defense spending, and opposition to same-sex marriage.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the trade deal previously struck in July, in which Japan pledged to invest $550 billion into American projects in return for a 15 percent baseline tariff on nearly all Japanese imports entering the United States.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced that the United States and China have reached an agreement on a framework for a trade deal just days before President Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO summit in South Korea on Thursday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that a “healthy, stable and sustainable bilateral relationship serves the long-term interest of both countries,” while describing President Trump and Xi as “world-class leaders who have engaged with each other over a long period and with mutual respect” in a phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also confirmed that the two sides have reached a framework agreement, noting that negotiators from the two nations have discussed rare earths, tariffs, fentanyl, and a “substantial purchase of U.S. agricultural products.”
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