Takaichi Seeks a Call With Trump After His Wartime Remarks on China

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is believed to be seeking a telephone call with Trump to address Tokyo's concerns after the Washington summit, The Japan Times reported. The worry in Tokyo is that Beijing will use the meeting to reinforce a narrative in which Japan is the destabilizing actor in East Asia.

The trigger was Trump's invocation of the American alliance with China during the Second World War, references that the South China Morning Post reported were received in Tokyo as a serious departure from recent American framing. Chinese officials have long grounded their regional claims in wartime history, and an American president adopting that vocabulary, even casually, changes the diplomatic terms that shape Japan's security position.

Japanese officials have not disputed the substance of the alliance, and Washington has not announced any change to its commitments. The question Tokyo is asking is narrower and more practical: whether an administration that relies heavily on personal rapport with foreign leaders will treat Japanese security priorities as one input among many when negotiating with Beijing on trade and technology.

For markets the effect runs through Japanese defense procurement and the yen. A government that doubts the durability of an external guarantee spends more on its own capabilities and looks for partners beyond its treaty ally, both of which have fiscal consequences for a state already normalizing monetary policy after decades of accommodation.