Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hosts President Donald Trump in Tokyo. October 28, 2025. (©Prime Minister's Office of Japan)
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, having secured a historic election victory, will visit the White House in March. She brings with her the strong political endorsement of her campaign platform.
Significant trade and investment issues will be on the table. However, the focus here will be on the prime minister's commitment to strengthening Japan's security policies and the security challenges facing Japan and the alliance.
Realizing her campaign pledge to strengthen Japan's defense posture is critical for both the defense of the archipelago and the Japan-United States alliance.
In her meeting with President Donald Trump, the prime minister should underscore her determined commitment to the government's promised increase in Japan's defense budget.
Execution Will Be Everything
A stronger Japan will serve to make the country a more attractive alliance partner, more capable of assuming a larger role in the regional security architecture. This would be in line with the Trump administration's 2025 National Security Strategy and 2026 NDS National Defense Strategy.
Making Japan a more capable security partner would also serve to anchor the United States in Asia through Japan.
In this context, enactment of the Liberal Democratic Party's proposal to strengthen Japan's intelligence capabilities would enhance regional security. But the development of an autonomous intelligence capability should in no way complicate the Japan-US intelligence sharing structure.
Again, execution here will be everything.
New Intelligence Security Structure
At the same time, advancing the protection of classified information to a new, higher standard would allow Japan's entry into the top-drawer FVEY, or Five Eyes intelligence structure, joining the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This stands as a long-standing desiderata among US and Japanese security officials.
And, as Japan, in the words of Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, considers the possible development of a nuclear-powered submarine force to enhance deterrence, Five Eyes engagement would also open the door to AUKUS.
Whatever Japan may ultimately decide regarding a nuclear-powered submarine option, Five Eyes-level intelligence security would provide entry to full participation in AUKUS Pillar Two, cooperation in the defense industry, and technology development.
This would serve to enhance alliance-based deterrence against the growing security challenges to regional stability and security posed by China's surging conventional and nuclear buildup.
Most Complex Postwar Security Environment
President Trump's National Security Strategy views China's challenge as economic in nature. However, the prime minister should underscore to the president that the challenges posed by China go beyond economic coercion ー that the security environment faced by Japan is the most complex it has faced since 1945.
North Korea was not mentioned in the President's National Security Strategy. Nevertheless, beyond China, North Korea under Kim Jong Un is continuing to advance its rapidly developing nuclear and missile programs, which are a threat to Japan.
Deterring a Taiwan Contingency
At the same time, the prime minister should make clear to the president that the caution she raised by her remarks in the Diet regarding a Taiwan contingency potentially posing an existential security threat to Japan reflects geopolitical reality.
Takaichi could ask Mr Trump to remind his "good friend" Xi Jinping of the potential consequences of a Taiwan contingency for regional as well as global prosperity and security. She should also emphasize the importance of maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
Given Japan's increasingly severe security environment, President Trump should reiterate the United States treaty-based commitment to the defense of Japan, with its "full range of capabilities, including nuclear." In Beijing, Pyongyang, or Moscow, there should be no doubt of the United States commitment.
Advancing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
In addition to endorsing the prime minister's review of Japan's three national security documents, the National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Defense Buildup Program, President Trump should also express support for Japan taking a leading role in advancing the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Japan's leadership is critical to addressing the physical and digital infrastructure needs of Southeast Asia and Pacific Island countries and to offsetting China's influence there.
The summit will come at a dynamic and uncertain moment, with conflicts ongoing in Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran. It also comes shortly in advance of President Trump's anticipated visit to China.
In terms of Japan's security and the two nations' mutual commitment to the alliance, the summit should leave no doubt about the enduring strength of this relationship.
Going forward, United States-Japan alliance-based security cooperation will remain, as it has for now over seven decades, central to the defense of Japan and to regional and global prosperity and security.
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Author: James J Przystup
Senior Fellow, Japan Chair, Hudson Institute, and author of the Hudson Institute report, "Japanーand the Alliance ー Prepare to Address a Taiwan Contingency."
