Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae will hold her first summit with US President Donald Trump next week. She plans to express her intention to fundamentally strengthen Japan’s defense capabilities.
The Japanese government announced on Wednesday that the US president will visit Japan for three days from Monday.
At the meeting, Takaichi wants to build a personal relationship of trust with Trump and elevate Japan-US relations to a higher level.
She also plans to explain Japan’s efforts in security, following Trump’s complaints that the burden shouldered by US allies is insufficient.
At a news conference on Tuesday, the prime minister said she wants to tell Trump that Japan will firmly enhance its defense capabilities.
Takaichi is expected to deliver her first policy speech at the Diet on Friday. She plans to announce that her administration aims to revise three national security documents, including the National Security Strategy, by the end of next year.
She is also expected to unveil plans to advance the goal of raising defense spending and related expenditures to 2 percent of GDP from the current target year of fiscal 2027 by using the supplementary budget for this fiscal year.
Takaichi is expected to convey these ideas to Trump at the summit.
The two leaders are expected to discuss Japanese investments of 550 billion dollars in the US that the countries agreed upon in their recent tariff negotiations and confirm the details of that agreement.
