Trump, who lavished praise on Japan’s first female prime minister during his October visit, will have ample time at their summit—through talks, a working lunch, and dinner—to press her on Iran.
As U.S. allies in Asia worry that shifting American security assets from the region might undermine defenses against China, Japan wants Beijing to top the agenda.
Tokyo seeks a deal with Washington to diversify critical mineral supplies away from China and join Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense system, aimed at countering new hypersonic weapons from China and Russia, according to Japanese officials involved in preparations.
Bracing for an Iran focus, Tokyo is urgently seeking ways to assist, though it’s uncertain if any will appease Trump, said one anonymous source.
Lacking strong military leverage, Japan could act as a go-between with Tehran, suggested Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation think tank.
In 2019, Sanae Takaichi’s mentor and slain predecessor, Shinzo Abe, delivered a message to Iran’s supreme leader on a failed peacekeeping bid—but neither side seems open to talks now.
“I don’t think it’s going to be enough to talk to the Iranians,” said Kurt Campbell, a former deputy secretary of state under President Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor. He predicted Trump would pose a stark yes-or-no demand to Takaichi: “This is a moment of enormous political peril.”