Trump gets royal welcome in Japan; China trade truce hopes rise

TOKYO - US President Donald Trump received a royal welcome on Oct 27 in Japan, the latest leg of a five-day Asia trip which he hopes to cap with an agreement on a trade war truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Mr Trump, making his longest journey abroad since taking office in January, announced a flurry of deals on trade and critical minerals with four South-east Asian nations during the first stop in Malaysia and is set to meet Mr Xi in South Korea on Oct 30.

Negotiators from the world’s top two economies

hashed out a framework

on Oct 26 for a deal to pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, US officials said. The news sent Asian stocks soaring to record peaks.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for President Xi and I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One before landing in the Japanese capital Tokyo.

Trump meets Japanese emperor

Wearing a gold tie and blue suit, Mr Trump gave a few fist pumps before his helicopter whisked him off for a scenic night tour of Tokyo, several of its towers lit up in the red, white and blue of the American flag.

He later headed in a long motorcade to the Imperial Palace, where he shook hands and posed for photographs with Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

Mr Trump has already won a US$550 billion (S$713 billion)

investment pledge from Tokyo

in exchange for respite from punishing import tariffs.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Japanese counterpart Ryosei Akazawa, architects of the

tariff deal agreed in July

, discussed power grids as being a potential investment area over a sushi lunch in Tokyo earlier on Oct 27, local media reported.

Japan’s newly elected prime minister, Ms Sanae Takaichi, is

hoping to further impress Mr Trump

on Oct 28 with promises to purchase US pick-up trucks, soya beans and gas, and announce an agreement on shipbuilding, sources with knowledge of the plans told Reuters.

Ms Takaichi, who

became Japan’s first female premier last week

, told Mr Trump in a telephone call on Oct 25 that strengthening their countries’ alliance was her “top priority”.

Mr Trump said he was looking forward to meeting Ms Takaichi, a close ally of his late friend and golfing partner, former prime minister Shinzo Abe, adding: “I think she’s going to be great.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama at her ministry on Oct 27.

Their first in-person meeting touched upon the Takaichi government’s proactive fiscal policy and Japan’s investment pledge, and there were no talks directly on the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy, Ms Katayama told reporters.

Thousands of police are guarding Tokyo. A knife-wielding man was arrested on Oct 24 outside the US embassy and an anti-Trump protest is planned in downtown Shinjuku.

Trade and security on agenda for talks

Mr Trump was the first foreign leader to meet Emperor Naruhito after he came to the throne in 2019, continuing an imperial line that some say is the world’s oldest hereditary monarchy.

Emperor Naruhito’s role, however, is purely symbolic, and the key diplomacy will take place with Ms Takaichi on Oct 28.

Mr Trump and Ms Takaichi are set to meet at the nearby Akasaka Palace, where he met Mr Abe six years ago, and will be welcomed by a military honour guard.

Among the investment pledges, the two countries will sign a memorandum of understanding on Oct 28 on investment in shipbuilding, a source with knowledge of the plans said.

Ms Takaichi is also expected to reassure Mr Trump that Tokyo is willing to do more on security after telling lawmakers on Oct 24 she

plans to accelerate Japan’s biggest defence build-up since World War II

.

Japan hosts the largest concentration of US military power abroad. Mr Trump has said previously Tokyo is not spending enough to defend its islands from an increasingly assertive China.

While Ms Takaichi has said she will speed up plans to boost defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product, she may struggle to commit Japan to any further increases that Mr Trump seeks, as her ruling coalition does not have a majority in Parliament.

Mr Trump is due to leave on Oct 29 for Gyeongju in South Korea, where he will hold talks with President Lee Jae Myung. Mr Bessent told reporters the overall framework of a deal with South Korea was also done but would not be finalised this week.

Oct 30’s expected meeting with Mr Xi will come after Washington and Beijing raised tariffs on each other’s exports and threatened to halt trade involving critical minerals and technologies.

Neither side expects a breakthrough that would restore the terms of trade that existed before Mr Trump’s return to power.

Talks to prepare for the meeting have focused on managing disagreements and modest improvements, before a visit by Mr Trump to China expected early in 2026. REUTERS