‘Won’t let you down': Trump's big promise to business leaders as he seeks Japanese investment in US
The dinner began with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who announced several new potential Japanese investments in US projects.
US President Donald Trump had dinner with business leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, and Rakuten Group’s Hiroshi Mikitani, in a move aimed at boosting Japanese investment in the United States.
Assuring the leaders that the US “won’t let you down”, Trump said, “You have great companies, you’re phenomenal business people,” at the dinner hosted by US Ambassador to Japan George Glass.
OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, Toshiba's Taro Shimada, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Honda Motor President Toshihiro Mibe, and Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey were also among those invited to the dinner.
Notably, guests at the dinner were served a menu including vegetable spring rolls, salad, stuffed pasta, and apple crumble tart, Bloomberg reported.
Howard Lutnick announces potential Japanese investments
The dinner began with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who announced several new potential Japanese investments in US projects. Under a trade agreement reached earlier this year, Trump reduced and capped tariffs on Japanese goods in return for Japan’s commitment to fund $550 billion worth of US projects.
Lutnick reportedly said that the deals announced on Tuesday could total around $490 billion in investments, though many remain preliminary and represent the higher end of potential costs.
Trump had earlier described the $550 billion as funds his administration could “invest as we like”, with 90% of the profits going to the US. Japan, however, has described the pledge as a mix of investments, loans, and guarantees intended to support Japanese firms’ projects in the US.
Trump’s meeting with new Japan PM
Sanae Takaichi, who became Japan’s first female prime minister only a few days ago, strengthened her ties with Trump during their meeting on Tuesday. “That’s a very strong handshake,” Trump told Takaichi as soon as they met.
Trump told her it was a “big deal” that she is Japan’s first woman prime minister and said that the US is committed to Japan. Known for his blunt tone with foreign leaders, Trump appeared to have only positive words for Takaichi.
“Anything I can do to help Japan, we will be there,” he said. “We are an ally at the strongest level.”
Both leaders also signed black “Japan is Back” baseball caps, resembling Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” caps.
With inputs from agencies
