Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces one of the toughest tests of her five-month premiership when she visits the White House on Thursday after Donald Trump urged Japan to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s call for help reopening the critical waterway has created panic among Japanese officials who had focused on investment deals to placate the US president and on getting support for Takaichi amid Chinese criticism over her comments on the role Japan would play if China attacked Taiwan.
Kurt Campbell, a former US deputy secretary of state who has worked with Japan for decades, said Trump was likely to put “enormous pressure” on Takaichi to make a military commitment to the American campaign against Iran.
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