Surprise and alliance: What the Trump-Takaichi meeting reveals

WHEN Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrived at the White House on Mar 19, the meeting was meant to be a routine show of unity, not a stress test. It became both.

The two leaders had been hoping to build on momentum from US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Tokyo, which framed the US-Japan alliance as entering a “golden era”.

Instead, the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran cast a long shadow over every exchange. Takaichi herself had warned lawmakers before departing Tokyo that she expected the meeting to be “very difficult”.