{"id":283081,"date":"2025-04-16T04:52:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T04:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/16\/both-admired-and-resented-by-trump-japan-scrambles-to-stay-close\/"},"modified":"2025-04-16T04:52:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T04:52:09","slug":"both-admired-and-resented-by-trump-japan-scrambles-to-stay-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/16\/both-admired-and-resented-by-trump-japan-scrambles-to-stay-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Both Admired and Resented by Trump, Japan Scrambles to Stay Close"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/10\/multimedia\/10int-japan-trump-04-wzpt\/10int-japan-trump-04-wzpt-facebookJumbo-v2.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Both Admired and Resented by Trump, Japan Scrambles to Stay Close\" title=\"Both Admired and Resented by Trump, Japan Scrambles to Stay Close\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This month in the White House\u2019s Rose Garden, as he held up a placard showing the global wave of tariffs he wanted to impose, President Trump paused to fondly recall a fallen friend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe prime minister of Japan, Shinzo, was \u2014 Shinzo Abe \u2014 he was a fantastic man,\u201d Mr. Trump said during the tariff announcement on April 2. \u201cHe was, unfortunately, taken from us, assassination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The words of praise for Mr. Abe, who was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/07\/08\/world\/asia\/shinzo-abe-assassin-handmade-gun.html\" title=\"\">gunned down three years ago<\/a> during a campaign speech, did not stop Mr. Trump from slapping a 24 percent tariff on products imported from Japan. But they were unusual, nonetheless, coming from a president who has had few nice things to say these days about other allies, particularly Canada and Europe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, Japan will be one of the first countries allowed to bargain for a possible reprieve from Mr. Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs, many of which he has put on hold for 90 days. On Thursday, a negotiator handpicked by Japan\u2019s current prime minister is scheduled to begin talks in Washington with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Japan\u2019s place at the front of the line reflects the different approach that Mr. Trump has taken toward the nation. While the president still accuses it of unfair trade policies and an unequal security relationship, he also praises it in the same breath as a close ally, an ancient culture and a savvy negotiator.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI love Japan,\u201d Mr. Trump told reporters last month. \u201cBut we have an interesting deal with Japan where we have to protect them but they don\u2019t have to protect us,\u201d referring to the security treaty that bases 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Japan holds a special, if not always fond, place in Mr. Trump\u2019s thinking. Its meteoric economic rise in the 1980s shaped his current views of global trade, including his passion for tariffs. Some observers say the president has maintained a love-hate relationship with Japan that leads him to criticize the country while also admiring it \u2014 and reveling in the flattery from its recent leaders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cTrump\u2019s behavior toward Japan looks quite contradictory, but it\u2019s actually very consistent,\u201d said Glen S. Fukushima, a former U.S. trade official who has watched U.S.-Japan relations for more than four decades. \u201cHe has a lot of admiration and respect for Japan, which he thinks has been really shrewd in hoodwinking the Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While the president on Wednesday suspended the broadest tariffs after financial markets went into free fall, Japan still faces a new 10 percent base tariff that Mr. Trump has imposed on most imports to America. Late Friday, the White House <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/12\/technology\/trump-electronics-tariffs.html\" title=\"\">amended its terms again<\/a> by sparing smartphones, computers, semiconductors and other electronics from tariffs. Yet there also remain higher levies on steel and aluminum and a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/07\/business\/nissan-kanda-japan-factory.html\" title=\"\">25 percent<\/a> tariff on autos, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/07\/business\/nissan-kanda-japan-factory.html\" title=\"\">which could hit Japan\u2019s economy hard<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Japan has reacted with feelings of betrayal and bewilderment to the tariffs, which targeted America\u2019s friends and foes alike. After failed diplomatic efforts to win Japan an exemption, Shigeru Ishiba, the current prime minister, declared the tariffs a \u201cnational crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But at the same time, Mr. Trump has given Japan more privileged treatment. When Mr. Ishiba wanted to discuss a possible deal to reduce tariffs, Mr. Trump took the call.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cSpoke to the Japanese Prime Minister this morning. He is sending a top team to negotiate!\u201d Mr. Trump wrote Monday on his social media platform. True to form, the president then immediately shifted into a complaint that Japan has \u201ctreated the U.S. very poorly on Trade.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey don\u2019t take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While flip-flopping is not unusual for Mr. Trump\u2019s off-the-cuff style, his split view of Japan goes much deeper, extending back to his early days as a Manhattan real estate developer. Even then, he spoke of Japan as both a valued customer for his buildings and a source of financing for new deals, while also railing against the unequal balance of trade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAmerica is being ripped off,\u201d Mr. Trump <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/05\/15\/us\/politics\/china-trade-donald-trump.html\" title=\"\">said in an interview<\/a> in 1988. \u201cWe\u2019re a debtor nation, and we have to tax, we have to tariff, we have to protect this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In 2016, those attitudes helped carry him to victory among voters disillusioned with globalization. But before Mr. Trump\u2019s inauguration, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/07\/world\/asia\/japan-trump-shinzo-abe.html\" title=\"\">Mr. Abe<\/a> was the first world leader to visit the president-elect in Trump Tower, where he applauded Mr. Trump\u2019s election win and presented him with a gold-plated golf club. Mr. Trump, who was still being viewed warily by other world leaders, never forgot the gesture, said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/news\/fifteenth-meeting-between-japanese-american-leaders-japanese-ambassador-and-consuls-general\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Shinsuke J. Sugiyama<\/a>, who was Japan\u2019s ambassador to the United States during the first Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAbe took a risk by being the first world leader to visit him,\u201d Mr. Sugiyama said. \u201cThis gave Trump a whole different image of Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Japan\u2019s current prime minister has tried to use that same playbook during the second Trump administration, but with mixed results. Mr. Abe\u2019s widow, Akie Abe, had dinner with Mr. Trump and Melania Trump in January at the president\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A month later, Mr. Ishiba became one of the first heads of state to visit Mr. Trump at the White House, playing up Japan\u2019s huge investments in American business and industry. He also mentioned the July 2024 assassination attempt on Mr. Trump, telling the U.S. president, \u201cYou were one chosen by God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Ishiba earned priority access to Mr. Trump for his negotiator, a close political ally named <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/japan.kantei.go.jp\/102_ishiba\/meibo\/daijin\/akazawa_ryosei_e.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Ryosei Akazawa<\/a>, who will most likely pledge to buy more American food, weapons and energy. Mr. Ishiba hopes he can offer enough to win an exemption from Mr. Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBy being first to bend a knee, Abe allowed Trump to say, \u2018Look, Japan was laughing at us, but now that I\u2019m in power, they come to see me,\u2019\u201d said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/faculty-directory.dartmouth.edu\/jennifer-m-miller\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Jennifer M. Miller<\/a>, a historian of U.S.-Japan relations at Dartmouth College. \u201cIshiba is hoping the old playbook will still work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/16\/world\/asia\/japan-trump-tariffs.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month in the White House\u2019s Rose Garden, as he held up a placard showing the global wave of tariffs he wanted to impose, President Trump paused to fondly recall a fallen friend. \u201cThe prime minister of Japan, Shinzo, was \u2014 Shinzo Abe \u2014 he was a fantastic man,\u201d Mr. Trump said during the tariff [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/10\/multimedia\/10int-japan-trump-04-wzpt\/10int-japan-trump-04-wzpt-facebookJumbo-v2.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[188292,65894,3600,165435,163575,164053,182039,92,137131,219488,32316,182040,188293,125,52,1021,128437,163486],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283083,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283081\/revisions\/283083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}