Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and US President Donald Trump have wrapped up their summit in Washington. They discussed several topics, including the tense situation in Iran. Takaichi says she explained to him that there are actions Japan can and cannot take within the scope of Japanese law.
Trump welcomed Takaichi to the White House Thursday morning. Soon after, they went to the Oval Office, where they spoke in front of reporters.
Right now, situations in the Middle East and also the entire world, we are actually experiencing a very severe security environment, and also the global economy is now about to experience a huge hit because of this development. But even against such backdrop, I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world. Today, I look forward to having a discussion on how we can cooperate to make our two nations, both Japan and the United States stronger and more prosperous, and I also brought specific proposals to calm down the global energy market.I expect Japan to step up, because we have that kind of relationship, and we step up with Japan. I think It’s appropriate that people step up. In the case of Japan, I hear they got more than 90 percent of their oil through the Strait. So that’s a big reason to step up. But, we’re going to have good talks today, and I think mostly about trade. Because they want to do a lot of trade. They’re a tremendous purchaser of our energy, our oil, gas from in particular Alaska.
This was their second face-to-face meeting since last October in Tokyo. Many are paying attention to how Takaichi responds to the situation in the Middle East.
After the meeting, Takaichi said that they were able to confirm many areas of cooperation to further improve the quality of the Japan-US alliance. Trump had earlier asked Japan and others to send ships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, though he later said he didn’t need their help.
Reporters asked Takaichi about Iran at a briefing after the summit.
clearly conveyed Japan’s views, including the need for early de-escalation of the situation. We confirmed that Japan and the United States will continue to maintain close communication toward achieving peace and stability in the Middle East, including ensuring the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and stable energy supplies. I explained in detail that there are actions Japan can and cannot take, within the framework of Japanese law.
She says that the two countries are planning to cooperate on increasing US crude oil production. Takaichi says they discussed economic issues including critical minerals and energy.
Takaichi says they also discussed issues regarding China and North Korea and that Japan and the US will continue to work closely together.
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