Trump says Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will visit him at White House next week

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on Jan 31 that

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will visit him next week

at the White House and he looks forward to the conversation.

"They’re coming in to speak to me and I’m looking forward to it," Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The meeting is expected to take place on Feb 7. Japan's Asahi newspaper reported on Jan 30 that the leaders of the two long-time allies will discuss strengthening economic and security cooperation.

Mr Ishiba, who took office in October, a little over a month before Mr Trump's re-election, is keen to build a personal relationship early in the US President's second term and deepen Japan's key US alliance amid shared concerns about China's growing power, people familiar with the matter said.

Mr Ishiba plans to highlight how Japanese companies create jobs in the US, and increases in Japan's defence budget, the people said.

Mr Shinzo Abe, a predecessor of Mr Ishiba's as prime minister who launched significant defence reforms and was assassinated in 2022, enjoyed a strong rapport with Mr Trump during the latter's first term.

Analysts say Mr Ishiba will want to build on that despite concerns about Mr Trump's threats of tariffs to correct trade imbalances.

Officials familiar with the matter told Reuters that Japan is considering offering support for a US$44 billion (S$59.83 billion) gas pipeline in Alaska as it seeks to court Mr Trump and forestall potential trade friction.

Japan has doubts about the viability of the proposed 1,290km pipeline, which Mr Trump has said is key for US prosperity and security, given the overall costs of the gas relative to other sources, but is prepared to offer to explore a deal if asked, the officials said.

Tokyo may include such a commitment among other concessions, such as buying more US gas and increasing defence spending and manufacturing investment in the US, to reduce its US$56 billion bilateral trade surplus and stave off the threat of tariffs, one of the officials said.

Mr Trump's defence secretary, Mr Pete Hegseth, spoke by phone with Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani on Jan 30, and Japan will have been heartened by the Pentagon hailing the US-Japan alliance "the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region" in its readout of the call.

"The two officials reiterated the importance of deepening defence cooperation to strengthen deterrence and to advance a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region," the Pentagon statement said.

Mr Abe was the first foreign leader to hold a summit with Mr Trump after his 2016 election win, but Mr Ishiba is set to be beaten to that accolade this time by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Nicholas Szechenyi, head of the Japan programme at Washington's Centre for Strategic and International Studies think-tank, said Mr Ishiba's main objective would be to stress that Tokyo will remain a reliable ally to the US.

He added that the summit would have strategic impact in signalling that alliances will remain a fundamental pillar of US strategy in Asia, with US-Japan ties at its core. 

"Ishiba’s case is straightforward: Japan is an ally that is stepping up by investing more in its own defence, advancing security cooperation with the US, and investing in the US economy," he said.

Mr Szechenyi said the economic agenda could take centre stage.

"A few concrete proposals from Ishiba, maybe on energy imports or new investments in American manufacturing, could help him further Japan’s reputation as an economic partner and set the tone for a productive US-Japan relationship under Trump." REUTERS