U.S. President Donald Trump threw his full support behind Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ahead of Sunday’s national election, a rare foreign endorsement that adds momentum to a campaign already heading toward a decisive victory.
Trump said he looked forward to hosting Takaichi at the White House next month and praised her leadership in a post on his Truth Social platform, calling it a “complete and total endorsement.” The backing comes as Japan’s first female prime minister seeks a public mandate for sweeping defence expansion and bold spending plans that have unsettled markets and heightened tensions with China.
Opinion polls suggest Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, are on course to win around 300 seats in the 465-member lower house. That would significantly expand the narrow majority they currently hold and cement her authority just months after taking office.
Takaichi, 64, is a nationalist conservative who has openly cited former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a political inspiration. While she was already expected to secure a strong result, Trump’s endorsement is seen as a diplomatic tailwind that resonates both politically and economically in Japan.
