President Donald Trump spent Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan, the second stop on his whirlwind, five-day tour across Asia.
Technically, the president arrived in Japan around 5:00 a.m. ET on Monday, or 6:00 p.m. Japan Standard Time, and immediately met with Japanese Emperor Naruhito.
The bulk of Trump’s trip occurred while the East Coast slept overnight Monday — or just Tuesday in Tokyo — but here’s everything you need to know ahead of his departure for South Korea on Wednesday.
You’ve Got A Friend in Takaichi
Trump was the first world leader to visit newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the protege of Trump’s late friend, the former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The president met with Takaichi at the Akasaka Palace in Minato City, an ornate government complex used to host visiting leaders. Trump has stated that he hopes to use the under-construction White House ballroom for similar purposes.
“I want to just let you know, anytime you have any question, any doubt, anything you want, any favors you need, anything I can do to help Japan, we will be there,” Trump said to Takaichi, the first woman ever elected to be prime minister of Japan, during a bilateral press spray. “We are an ally at the strongest level.”
Takaichi is considerably more conservative than her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and Trump thanked her for increasing military orders from American outfits.
“I know that you are increasing your military capacity very substantially, and we’ve received your orders for a very large amount of new military equipment,” the president said to Takaichi while at the Akasaka Palace.
Takaichi, to her credit, seemed fully prepared to handle Trump. Shortly after the president’s arrival, she announced that she would be nominating him for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize and joined him for several other public appearances throughout the day.
It’s Still Fun to Stay at the YMCA
Since entering office, Trump has majorly downgraded his rally schedule, and while that may change as the 2026 midterm election cycle heats up, Tuesday gave Trump an opportunity to knock the rust off of one of his go-to onstage moves.
Tuesday afternoon, Trump helicoptered to the USS George Washington, an American aircraft carrier off the coast of Yokosuka, Japan, to deliver remarks to troops and family members.
The president made little news with his comments, joking that the “good-looking” people in the crowd were responsible for the might of the Navy.
“It comes from you people, incredible people, good-looking people, too many good-looking people,” Trump weaved. “I never liked good-looking people, I’ll be honest with you. … I never admitted that before.”
But Trump earned significantly more applause by closing out the appearance with his signature dance moves, performed as is typical to the Village People’s “YMCA.”
A Few Good Investments
Courting foreign investments has been an active calling of Trump’s trade policies, and his layover in Japan provided two separate opportunities to pitch America to foreign business interests.
First, during his trip to Akasaka Palace, Trump and Takaichi signed a bilateral rare earth minerals deal, following similar deals the U.S. has already signed with Ukraine and Australia. White House officials maintain the agreement will usher in a “new golden age” of the U.S.-Japanese relationship, and it could provide possible insulation against China’s threats of import controls on the critical resources.
Furthermore, Trump dined Tuesday evening at the U.S. ambassador’s residence with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and a group of Japanese business leaders, where the president announced some “490 billions of dollars of investments” from companies such as Panasonic, Hitachi, Toyota, FujiFilm, Nippon Steel, and more. Each time Trump listed another investment, a representative from the company came up and took a photo with the president and Lutnick.
And according to reporters traveling with the president, the group dined on vegetable spring rolls, eggplant and avocado salad, canelloni stuffed with broccoli and tofu, and apple crumble tart served with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
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Trump is slated to travel to South Korea early Wednesday morning.