A “near-perfect meeting.” That was how one senior Liberal Democratic Party official labeled new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
It’s hard to argue with that, supporters and rivals say. With a successful summit, Takaichi achieved most of her goals, including an understanding from Trump over Japan’s push to boost its defense capabilities, while the U.S. president pocketed a number of economic deliverables, most notably an agreement to cooperate on rare-earth and critical minerals.
“It was a near-perfect meeting,” LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Takayuki Kobayashi said after the summit Tuesday. “We were able to demonstrate to the world the strength of the Japan-U.S. relationship and the close rapport between our leaders.”
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