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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France’s “absolute priority” remains the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Thursday (5 February) during talks with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus, as Paris reassesses its counter-terrorism strategy.
Security services say they have now rescued all 166 worshippers who were kidnapped by gunmen during attacks on two churches in northern Nigeria last month, a Christian group said on Thursday (5 February).
The U.S. military said Washington and Moscow have agreed to reestablish high-level military-to-military dialogue following talks in Abu Dhabi. The move could signal a step toward normalising some ties between the United States and Russia.
The U.S. and China are locked in a growing struggle over critical minerals, the materials that power everything from electric vehicles and microchips to missiles and advanced radar systems, as both sides move to secure control over supply chains that underpin economic and military power.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) unveiled a new underground ballistic missile base on Wednesday (4 February), just over a day before the start of mediated nuclear negotiations with the United States, slated for Friday in Oman.
Rivers and reservoirs across Spain and Portugal were on the verge of overflowing on Wednesday as a new weather front pounded the Iberian peninsula, compounding damage from last week's Storm Kristin.
Morocco has evacuated more than 100,000 people from four provinces after heavy rainfall triggered flash floods across several northern regions, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
A second group of Palestinians receiving medical treatment arrived in Egypt from Gaza via the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday (3 February).
The World Health Organization has added the Nipah virus to its list of the world’s top 10 priority diseases, alongside COVID-19 and the Zika virus, warning that its epidemic potential highlights the global risk posed by fast-spreading outbreaks.
Security services say they have now rescued all 166 worshippers who were kidnapped by gunmen during attacks on two churches in northern Nigeria last month, a Christian group said on Thursday (5 February).
The U.S. military said Washington and Moscow have agreed to reestablish high-level military-to-military dialogue following talks in Abu Dhabi. The move could signal a step toward normalising some ties between the United States and Russia.
Diplomacy remains U.S. President Donald Trump’s first choice in dealing with Iran, and he is prepared to wait and see whether a deal can be reached at the high-stakes talks, the White House said on Thursday (5 February).
The U.S. and China are locked in a growing struggle over critical minerals, the materials that power everything from electric vehicles and microchips to missiles and advanced radar systems, as both sides move to secure control over supply chains that underpin economic and military power.
Greek authorities have arrested a member of the armed forces on suspicion of leaking highly sensitive military information to foreign handlers allegedly linked to China.
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