The Latest: Trump meets with newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

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U.S. President Donald Trump has met with Japan's newly elected, ultraconservative leader in Tokyo during one of the busiest days of his Asia trip. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gave Trump gold-plated golf balls carrying his name, and Japan’s government floated buying a fleet of American Ford F-150 trucks to ease trade tensions.

His Tuesday itinerary also included speaking to U.S. troops aboard an aircraft carrier and mingling with business leaders. During his trip through Asia, Trump has focused mostly on discussing trade with world leaders, aiming to highlight America’s influence on the global economy.

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The president told corporate executives that he would be their ally in the White House. If they aren’t able to make progress by talking to his Cabinet officials, he said, “call me and I’ll override them if I have to.”

Trump has been working to demonstrate that his trade policies can generate foreign investment that will boost the U.S. economy.

Ahead of a dinner at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick read a list of companies investing in the power system and the artificial intelligence buildout, among other projects, with funding from Japan.

The specific projects listed by Lutnick are tied to a trade framework, in which goods from Japan will be taxed at 15%. Trump announced in July that Japan would invest $550 billion as a result of trade negotiations.

Leading the investments were $100 billion each for nuclear projects involving Westinghouse and GE Vernova.

During Trump’s visit, Japan and the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening America’s struggling shipbuilding industry.

The $550 billion investment is part of the bilateral tariff deal agreed on earlier this year.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Japanese Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Takayuki Kaneko signed the MOU on the sidelines of a first summit between Trump and the Japanese prime minister.

Under the memorandum, two countries will set up a working group to foster cooperation in the development of shipbuilding and maritime industry, according to a Japanese statement.

Takaichi presented Trump with mementos from his 2017 visit when he and former leader Shinzo Abe played golf together, underscoring her own closeness to the late Abe, who had friendly ties with Trump.

The gifts included a golf club that Abe used when he and Trump played rounds six years ago, as well as a set of gold-coated golf balls carrying Trump’s name, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara.

There was also a caddy bag used by a top Japanese golf pro Hideki Matsuyama who played with them at the time. Kihara declined to disclose what Takaichi received from Trump.

The trial of Abe's accused assassin started on Tuesday in the western Japanese city of Nara.

Trump and Takaichi met with Sakie Yokota, 89, and about a dozen other people whose loved ones were abducted by North Korea decades ago.

In 1977, Yokota’s then-13-year-old daughter Megumi was abducted to North Korea from Japan’s northern coast on her way home from school. Yokota said she hopes for progress on the issue and thanked Trump for pledging his support.

“It’s a critical moment. We are getting old and this decades-old problem that has been left unresolved is now in the hands of our children,” Yokota said. “I desperately hope President Trump would have good talks with (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un and convince him to return our loved ones.”

The White House says Takaichi told Trump that she’s nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Doing so has become a common occurrence among foreign leaders looking to impress Trump, with several backing his nomination — or at least promising to do so — in recent months.

Trump also got nominated on this trip by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday.

The president didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize this year. But he’s noted that the awards committee made its decision before he helped broker a ceasefire that has halted the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

As Trump and Takaichi emerged from their bilateral meeting, a dozen people were seated on both sides of the room, holding pictures of family members.

The White House said that they were relatives who had loved ones abducted by North Korea.

Trump also met with families of Japanese who were abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s during a visit to Japan during his first term in 2019. He suggested some of the same relatives were on-hand on Tuesday, saying, “I remember all these beautiful faces.”

“I’m with them all the way,” Trump said. “And the U.S. is with them.”

One agreement aimed to strengthen the supply chain of rare earths and other critical minerals, a move showcasing coordination between the two allies amid the U.S.-China dispute over Beijing’s rare earths export controls.

Other deals between Japan and the U.S. include cooperation in Alaska’s development of liquid natural gas and stoppage of Russian LNG imports, and Japan’s soybean imports, according to Japanese media reports.

Call it pick-up diplomacy?

Japanese officials parked a trio of U.S. vehicles — a gold-hued Ford F-150 and what appeared to be two white American-made Toyota vehicles — outside Akasaka Palace, where Trump and Takaichi had met and signed trade agreements.

Trump wants allies, including Japan, to buy more American goods, while also making financial commitments to build factories and energy infrastructure in the U.S.

The vehicles were meant to impress him.

When he heard about the possibility of a Ford F-150 being incorporated into his visit, Trump praised the idea —and Japan’s prime minister.

Flying to Asia aboard Air Force One, the president said, “She has good taste” and noted, “That’s a hot truck.”

Both leaders signed the implementation of an agreement for the “golden age” of their countries’ alliance.

Held up after the signing, the document ran to less than one-page.

Trump and Takaichi then signed a second agreement, this one laying out a U.S.-Japan framework for securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earths.

When the signing ceremony had concluded, a reporter called out a question to Trump but got no answer. Organizers asked in English that the press please move on to the next event.

Takaichi told Trump that her country would give Washington some 250 additional cherry trees next year, in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration — as well as fireworks from Akita Prefecture for July 4 celebrations in 2026.

Then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gifted 250 new cherry trees to Washington during a visit to the White House with President Joe Biden in 2024.

Last year’s gift was meant to replace trees removed for construction to repair the crumbling seawall around the nation’s capital’s Tidal Basin, while also commemorating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. in 2026.

The president offered especially effusive praise to Takaichi, telling her, “Anything I can do to help Japan, we will be there.”

“You’re going to do a fantastic job, and we’re going to have a fantastic relationship,” he said.

Trump also hailed Takaichi being the first woman to hold the post, saying, “That’s a big deal,” before adding, “You will be one of the great prime ministers.”

The president told Takaichi that his offer to support Japan in all situations extended to any “favors you need.”

Takaichi used her early remarks to mention former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, her archconservative mentor who forged a strong bond with Trump during the U.S. president’s first term.

“As a matter of fact, Prime Minister Abe often told me about your dynamic diplomacy,” she said.

In his own comments, Trump said, “I want to thank you very much and I want to congratulate you.”

He continued: “Shinzo Abe was a great friend of mine,” and added, “he spoke so well of you.”

Trump said Abe “would be very happy to know that” Takaichi was now prime minister.

Abe was assassinated on July 8, 2022, during an election campaign speech. Trump recalled being saddened by Abe’s killing.

Before meeting with Trump, the Japanese prime minister said she was watching the Los Angeles Dodgers play the Toronto Blue Jays in the U.S. World Series.

Takaichi said the Dodgers were up 1-0 and that she really enjoyed watching it.

Baseball is a shared pastime in the U.S. and Japan. Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is a near ubiquitous presence across Japan in ads and the Dodgers ballpark increasingly caters to tourists from Japan coming to the U.S. to watch him.

The president arrived for a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Akasaka palace in Tokyo.

Trump was surrounded by U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

While posing for photos, Trump shook hands with Takaichi and said, “That’s a very strong handshake.”

The U.S. delegation also included White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said to Takaichi, “Congratulations, we’re so excited for you.”

Trump and Takaichi are scheduled to hold upcoming meetings.