Tokyo and Washington are preparing for a planned meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump in New York. The meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Japan aims to coordinate its China policy with Washington ahead of Trump’s planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the United States on Thursday. Tokyo’s concerns about the direction of U.S.-China relations have influenced its efforts to meet with Trump.
China and regional security expected to top agenda
Taiwan, China and regional security are among the issues that have featured prominently in contacts between the two countries. Economic security has also been one of the topics discussed by the leaders in their previous meetings.
If Tuesday’s planned meeting takes place, it will be at least Takaichi’s fourth face-to-face meeting with Trump since she became prime minister in October 2025.
The two leaders have met face to face three times before
Takaichi and Trump held their first face-to-face summit in Tokyo on October 28, 2025, during Trump’s visit to Japan. The leaders later met again at the White House on March 19, while they held a brief meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France in June.
Since Takaichi became prime minister, she has also held at least four publicly announced phone calls with Trump. These calls took place in October and November 2025 and in January and May.
During the phone call in May, Trump briefed Takaichi on his talks with Xi Jinping following his visit to Beijing. The two leaders also exchanged views on China, economic security and regional security during the call.