Japan is not just a partner to the U.S., it is a treaty ally under a security pact that commits America to defend Japan if attacked. Trump has publicly praised Takaichi’s defense stance and staged an alliance display aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier in Yokosuka.

Sanae Takaichi is managing her first real foreign-policy crisis as China ratchets up the pressure in response to her remarks about Taiwan.

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said he had a "great talk" with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Monday night and thinks that both Japan and China are "doing fine," amid an escalating diplomatic row between Asia's top two economies.