U.S. President Donald Trump gave his “complete and total endorsement” of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday (5 February) ahead of Japan’s national election on Sunday, backing the country’s first female premier as she seeks a fresh mandate for controversial spending plans.
President Trump said he would host Takaichi at the White House on 19 March, underscoring close ties between the two leaders as opinion polls show her ruling coalition on course for a decisive victory.
“Prime Minister Takaichi is someone who deserves powerful recognition for the job she and her Coalition are doing,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “It is my honour to give a complete and total endorsement of her.”
Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner, the Japan Innovation Party (Ishin), are projected to win around 300 seats in the 465-seat lower house, expanding their razor-thin majority, according to recent surveys.
The endorsement comes as investors react nervously to Takaichi’s pledge to suspend the 8% sales tax on food, a move aimed at easing the cost-of-living crisis but estimated to cut annual revenue by about 5 trillion yen ($30 billion) in an economy already carrying the world’s heaviest public debt burden.
In recent weeks, Japanese government bonds have come under pressure and the yen has weakened sharply, amid concerns over how Tokyo would fund the measures.
Analysts say, however, that a strong LDP victory could be viewed by markets as the least disruptive outcome, given that opposition parties are proposing even deeper tax cuts and broader spending.
Takaichi, 64, hosted Trump in Tokyo shortly after taking office in October, presenting him with a golf putter once used by the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Trump praised her for breaking Japan’s political “glass ceiling”, while Takaichi pledged billions of dollars in investment, reinforcing the U.S.–Japan alliance.
However, relations with Beijing have since deteriorated after Takaichi publicly outlined how Japan might respond to a Chinese attack on Taiwan, triggering the most serious diplomatic row between the two countries in more than a decade.
Trump, who is seeking to preserve a fragile trade truce with China, urged Takaichi in a private phone call in November not to further aggravate Beijing, sources reported.
Japanese officials say a commanding electoral win could strengthen Takaichi’s hand in dealing with China, though Beijing has criticised her defence agenda as a revival of Japan’s past militarism.
Despite economic jitters and diplomatic tensions, Takaichi’s approval ratings remain high. She has attracted a strong following among younger voters, some of whom have bought replicas of the bag she carries and the pink pen she uses in parliament.
Turnout among younger voters, as well as heavy snowfall in parts of the country, could affect the final margin.
PM Takaichi has said she would resign if she loses her majority.
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