Former US president Donald Trump gives his “total endorsement” to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ahead of a legislative election this Sunday.
TOKYO: U.S. President Donald Trump has given his “total endorsement” to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ahead of a national election on Sunday. He also announced he would meet her at the White House on March 19.
“Prime Minister Takaichi is someone who deserves powerful recognition for the job she and her Coalition are doing,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “Therefore, as President of the United States of America, it is my Honor to give a Complete and Total Endorsement of her.”
Opinion polls show Takaichi’s ruling coalition is widely expected to win. Her Liberal Democratic Party and its partner, the Japan Innovation Party, could capture around 300 seats in the 465-seat lower house.
READ MORE: Trump invites Japan’s Takaichi to US for spring meeting
This would be a significant increase from the razor-thin majority they currently control. Takaichi is seeking a public mandate for her spending and defence plans.
Her election promise to suspend an 8% sales tax on food has shaken investor confidence. The move would create an estimated 5 trillion yen (USD 30 billion) annual revenue shortfall.
Investors have recently fled Japanese government bonds, sending the yen into crisis mode. They are concerned about how Tokyo would pay for the tax cut in the world’s most indebted economy.
However, analysts say a comprehensive victory for the long-ruling LDP could be the least-worst option for financial markets. Other parties are touting even deeper tax cuts and broader spending.
One of Takaichi’s first acts as prime minister in October was to host Trump in Tokyo. She gave him a putter once used by his friend, the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Trump lauded Takaichi for breaking Japan’s glass ceiling. The meeting helped underline the strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance.
Weeks later, Takaichi touched off a major diplomatic dispute with China by outlining a potential response to a Chinese attack on Taiwan. Trump subsequently asked her in a private call not to further aggravate Beijing, sources told Reuters.
A resounding victory could hand Takaichi new clout in the dispute with China, officials said. Beijing has shown no signs of backing down and has cast her defence build-up as a revival of past militarism.
The row with China is starting to weigh on the world’s fourth-largest economy. It has hardly dented Takaichi’s high approval ratings, however.
She has even become an unlikely idol for some voters. They have been buying up the bag she carries and the pink pen she uses in parliament.
Turnout among young supporters could help determine her victory margin. Record snowfall in some parts of the country could also crimp turnout.
Takaichi has said she will resign if she loses her majority. Trump’s endorsement is part of a pattern of seeking to shape foreign elections.
He recently backed Argentine President Javier Milei and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Analysts say such interventions signal a growing alignment with right-wing leaders abroad. – Reuters
