Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday in the two leaders’ first face-to-face talks in Washington, as Ishiba looked to build ties — and avoid friction — with his unpredictable American counterpart.
Ishiba was largely successful on this front, with the two pledging to pursue a "new golden age" of U.S.-Japan relations — though the Japanese leader did get an earful from the president about the need to slash the United States’ trade deficit with its ally.
While Ishiba offered praise of Trump, and noted that Japan was the biggest investor in the U.S., something he pledged to continue by stepping up spending, the president insisted that he wanted "equality" in the trade balance between the two countries, pointedly saying "yes" when asked whether tariffs could follow if no progress was made.
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