Donald Trump endorsed Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ahead of a snap election in her country on Sunday.
Takaichi has “already proven to be a strong, powerful, and wise leader… one that truly loves her country,” the US president wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday, adding: “She will not let the people of Japan down!”
While it is rare for US presidents to publicly back candidates in foreign elections, Trump has done so before, endorsing Argentina’s Javier Milei and Hungary’s Viktor Orban most recently.
Takaichi has courted the US president as Tokyo seeks more stability in its relationship with Washington, its closest ally, in the wake of Trump’s tariffs.
Trump had threatened a 25% tariff initially, but Japan then struck a deal in July to invest $550bn (£407bn) in the US. In exchange, Washington lowered import levies to 15%.
Takaichi became PM in October after she won the leadership race in her party and secured enough support in parliament. But she called for an election to seek a public mandate.
Just one week after she too office, Tokyo rolled out the red carpet for Trump, deploying a full military guard of honour and band to welcome him at the Akasaka Palace, the government’s state guesthouse.
The two leaders heaped praises on each other and signed a deal on rare earths. They also signed a document heralding a new “golden age” of US-Japan relations.
During the visit, Takaichi described Trump as a “partner in a new golden era”, and praised his role in bringing peace to the Middle East.
“In my visit to Japan, I and all of my representatives, were extremely impressed with her,” Trump wrote in his post on Thursday, noting that the two countries have made progress in national security cooperation and on the economic front.
Trump also said he will welcome Takaichi to the White House on 19 March.
His endorsement post comes a day after he had a phone call with China’s leader Xi Jinping. He said he had an “extremely good” relationshipwith China, and that both he and Xi “realise how important it is to keep it that way”.
Xi called Taiwan “the most important issue” in their relationship, emphasising that Taiwan was “China’s territory”, Chinese state media reported. He also told Trump that Washington should be “prudent” when supplying weapons to the self-governed island which China has long claimed.
Taiwan is also the source of an ongoing diplomatic rift between Tokyo and Beijing – the historically tense relationship has hit its lowest point in more than a decade.
And Takaichi was at the center of it. She found herself the target of Beijing’s ire in November, when she made comments suggesting that Japan could respond with its own self-defence force if China attacked Taiwan.
By BBC News
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