Trump is expected to put “enormous pressure” on Takaichi, said Kurt Campbell, the former U.S. deputy secretary of state in the Biden administration who is now chair of The Asia Group.
Campbell said he’s never seen a meeting between U.S. and Japanese leaders carrying such high stakes. To press for Japan’s interests, he said, Takaichi will want to find a way to suggest that Japan is a part of the U.S. plan in the Middle East.
“She’s going to want to come out of that as a partner in this case and realize that if she can do that, that she can translate that potentially into the president listening more to Japanese concerns about Taiwan or other issues,” Campbell said.
Christopher Johnstone, a partner and chair of the defense and national security practice at The Asia Group, said Japan could help with mine-sweeping and has had “a small naval presence” in the region as part of an anti-piracy mission for at least a decade. But to join the U.S. mission would require Takaichi to clear “an exceptionally high bar politically to invoke collective self-defense” that has never been done before.