 "Trump holds phone call with Japan's new PM Sanae Takaichi ahead of his visit to the country")
Ahead of his visit to Japan, US President Donald Trump held his first phone call with the country’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Saturday. According to Nikkei Asia, the leaders agreed to further strengthen the US-Japan alliance, with Trump congratulating Takaichi on her election victory.
According to the report, the call between the two leaders lasted roughly 10 minutes, during which Takaichi told Trump that “strengthening the US-Japan alliance is the top diplomatic and security issue for my administration.”
“Japan is an extremely important country for the US strategy toward China and the Indo-Pacific,” Takaichi told reporters at her hotel in Malaysia’s capital after the call. Just like Trump, the Japanese Prime Minister is in the country to attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.
“Had a good and candid conversation with @realDonaldTrump today and truly appreciated his warm congratulatory message on my appointment as Prime Minister. Together with him, I am determined to elevate the Japan–US Alliance to even greater heights,” she wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Had a good and candid conversation with @realDonaldTrump today and truly appreciated his warm congratulatory message on my appointment as Prime Minister. Together with him, I am determined to elevate the Japan–U.S. Alliance to even greater heights.
— 高市早苗 (@takaichi_sanae) October 25, 2025
Starting tomorrow, I’ll be…
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be attending ASEAN-related Summit Meetings. I am looking forward to working closely with the US and our regional partners toward a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” she furthered.
Can Takaichi woo Trump?
During the phone call, the Japanese Prime Minister also asked for Washington’s support in resolving the issue of Japanese nationals who North Korea abducted. The two leaders also discussed conditions in West Asia.
The call comes at a time when Trump is scheduled to visit Japan from Monday to Wednesday, where he is scheduled to hold his first face-to-face talks with Takaichi. Before coming to power, Trump had already feted Takaichi, calling her “a highly respected person of great wisdom and strength”, and her election “tremendous news for the incredible people of Japan”. In response to this, the Japanese premier said that she is “truly hoping to work together with President Trump to make our alliance even stronger and more prosperous, and to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
However, due to Trump’s uncertain dynamics with world leaders, it is unclear whether Takaichi can form a strong, sustained political bond with the mercurial Trump, especially given her fragile domestic position; the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lacks a legislative majority. It is also important to recall Trump’s first term in office, when he initially called then-UK prime minister Theresa May “my Maggie” before falling out with her over a range of issues, including her preferred Brexit deal.
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