Trump Lauds Japan’s Promise, However Vague, To Help With Iran

Japan’s prime minister came to the White House on Thursday and delivered exactly what President Donald Trump has been looking for: a promise to join a U.S.-led coalition to stabilize shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, where a blockade by Iran is disrupting global oil supplies.

“Only you … can achieve peace across the world,” Takaichi Sanae told Trump. Aligning herself behind the president’s position that Iran “must never” develop nuclear weapons, she also affirmed that Japan will join a small group of allies in committing to a dialogue about how to secure the Strait.

“I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to reach our objectives together,” Takaichi said during an appearance with Trump in the Oval Office.

Led by the U.K., six allies including Japan issued a carefully calibrated statement Thursday expressing their general support for a potential coalition to ensure that ships can pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz – although they stopped short of committing to any specific allocation of military resources.

The vague promises of help are largely an attempt to placate Trump, who has been pressuring allies to do more — and making it clear in private conversations that he would be satisfied with a public statement even if it didn’t contain firm commitments.

In turn, Trump praised Takaichi as a “very popular, powerful woman,” saying he was not surprised that Japan was “stepping up.” Major European allies, however, got less credit for pledging their support.

“Now they’re getting much nicer because they’re seeing my attitude,” Trump said of EU nations he’s attempted to bend to his will. “But as far as I’m concerned, it’s too late.”

That bit of pique also served to undercut the president’s brash assertion that the U.S. didn’t really need help in securing the Strait.

“We don’t need much. We don’t need anything,” he said. “But I think it’s appropriate.”

It’s unclear how much material support Takaichi can provide to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to safe transit of the more than 1000 civilian cargo vessels — particularly oil and liquid natural gas carriers — stranded in the Persian Gulf since the Iran conflict began nearly three weeks ago.

Japan’s post-war constitution forbids the deployment of Japanese military forces into combat situations — a very real possibility if Japanese naval vessels act as escorts in the strait amid ongoing attacks by Iranian missiles and drones. Takaichi said her government is studying what Japan can lawfully do to assist.

The interruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has hit Japan hard. Shipments that transit the strait provide around 70 percent of Japan’s imported oil and about 6 percent of its imported liquid natural gas. Japan’s crude oil exports will “decrease significantly” around March 20 if the strait remains impassable, Takaichi said Monday.

Trump, who referred several times to the Iran war as “a little excursion,” reiterated his belief that the war is going well. In an awkward ad-libbed aside after being asked why he hadn’t shared war plans with close allies, he even likened the initial U.S.-Israel attack on Iran to Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor 81 years ago.

“Who knows better about [the element of] surprise than Japan?” Trump riffed, turning to Takaichi. “Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”

Trump also downplayed the possibility that he’d be deploying ground troops to Iran, although he hedged when asked directly.

“I’m not putting troops anywhere,” Trump said, responding to a reporter’s question. “If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.” But he added that he’d do “whatever is necessary” to stabilize global oil prices.

Beyond conversations about Iran, Trump delivered Takaichi a diplomatic victory by referencing China’s ongoing economic coercion campaign against Tokyo.

“I know they have a little bit of an edgy relationship,” Trump said when asked about China-Japan relations. “I’ll be speaking Japan’s praises when I’m in China with President Xi,” Trump added, mentioning a planned summit with China’s leader Xi Jinping that Trumpsaid has been “postponed for about a month and a half.” That language is sure to infuriate the Chinese government, which has vilified Takaichi as a threat to regional peace.

Beijing’s months-long targeted economic punishment has clobbered Japan’s tourism sector, cut rare earth exports and placed dozens of Japanese companies on Chinese export restriction watch lists.

Beijing launched that economic coercion campaign after Takaichi announced in November that military aggression across the Taiwan Strait could represent a “survival-threatening situation” requiring a Japanese military response. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters Thursday that her comments indicated “Japan’s intention to attempt armed intervention on the Taiwan question, and constitute a threat of force against China.”