MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Just a few hours ago, President Trump addressed U.S. troops while visiting Japan.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: On behalf of all Americans, I just want to say - and I came over to say it loud and clear - thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.
(CHEERING)
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The president was also notably friendly toward the country that has hosted American troops since 1945. It is part of Trump's brand to disparage longtime allies from Canada to Germany and beyond. But he sounded different in Tokyo, where the two countries announced friendly gestures on everything from rare-earth minerals to their stance on China to cherry trees.
MARTIN: White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram is traveling with the president, and she's with us now to tell us more about this trip. Good morning, Deepa. I guess good afternoon where you are.
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Well, yep. Good evening (laughter).
MARTIN: Good evening. OK. So how did Trump talk about Japan?
SHIVARAM: Yeah, it was really interesting. I mean, he even just in the days leading up to this Asia trip was telling reporters that he was really looking forward to meeting the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi. She was recently elected. She's the country's first female prime minister. And she and Trump kind of share a little bit of common ground because both the president and prime minister were close with the former Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe. So Trump was really kind of building this meeting up. They spoke over the phone, even just on the way - Trump traveling to Asia. So they had spoken before, but this was the first day that they had met. And today, when he was addressing the troops in Japan, he actually brought the prime minister up on stage to make her own remarks. So, yeah, the two of them really were getting along, and that sort of was reciprocated in many ways, one of them being that the White House announced earlier today that the prime minister nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.
MARTIN: So what else was discussed in that meeting?
SHIVARAM: Yeah, they covered a lot of different topics. Japan and the U.S. signed an agreement on rare-earth minerals, and they also discussed the Russia-Ukraine war. They also signed an agreement that essentially says the U.S. and Japan are in a, quote, "golden age" of their alliance. Like I said, the leaders seem to be getting along really well, and that translates to the country's relationship. Both the prime minister and the president were actually both late coming into the meeting, and they apologized to reporters 'cause they were watching the third game of the World Series together. And Trump said in his remarks, you know, anything that Japan needed, the U.S. would be there for.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: Anything I can do to help Japan, we will be there. We are an ally at the strongest level.
SHIVARAM: And, you know, Michel, just to put this into context, especially when it comes to trade, there is a framework for a U.S.-Japan trade deal that was agreed to earlier this year, and that's a 15% tariff on Japan's exports. And it also includes Japan investing $550 billion in the U.S. It is possible that some of that could be renegotiated. But in the meantime, on top of that, Japan has also recently purchased more military equipment from the U.S., is considering buying Ford F-150 trucks from the U.S. as well. And they announced today in the meeting that in honor of America's 250th birthday next year, Japan's gifting the U.S. 250 new cherry trees to D.C., which of course has the famous cherry blossom trees around the Tidal Basin that are from Japan.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Deepa Shivaram traveling with the president in Tokyo. Deepa, thank you.
SHIVARAM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
