Japan’s PM weighs early US visit after phone call with Trump

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering an early 2026 visit to the United States for talks with US President Donald Trump, a Japanese government source said, following phone discussions between the two leaders on January 2.

The potential visit would come ahead of Trump’s planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in April and is seen as an effort by Takaichi to coordinate positions with Washington on China, the source told Kyodo News.

Takaichi and Trump spoke by phone, as Tokyo seeks to manage a delicate relationship with Beijing, after comments she made in early November about a possible Taiwan contingency drew strong criticism from China.

The two leaders first met in October during Trump’s visit to Japan. In a separate phone call in late November, Trump urged Takaichi to avoid escalating tensions with China, a major US trading partner, while advising her to “manage” the relationship without retracting her Taiwan remarks, according to the source.

By Sabina Mammadli