WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said Japan is not required to protect the US militarily and makes “a fortune” from it economically, as he fired off an impromptu broadside at a key ally.
“We have a great relationship with Japan. But we have an interesting deal with Japan that we have to protect them, but they don’t have to protect us,” Trump said Thursday.
“And by the way, they make a fortune with us economically,” he said. “I actually ask, who makes these deals?”
Trump’s complaints came as Japan’s trade minister is arranging a trip to Washington during which he will reportedly demand an exemption from imminent US tariffs on steel and aluminum.
In response, Japanese government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi said Friday that Japan trusts Washington to keep its obligation to the two countries’ security treaty.
Around 54,000 American military personnel are stationed in Japan, mostly in the Okinawa region east of Taiwan.
NATO recalibration
Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday renewed doubts over his commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance, saying countries that are not spending adequately on their militaries do not deserve defense.
“If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,” he told reporters in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC.
Trump has frequently questioned whether the US — by far the biggest military in the transatlantic alliance and ultimate guarantor of Europe’s security since World War II — should continue its central role in NATO.
The Republican, who began his second term in January, doubled down on his criticism that some NATO members do not spend enough on their defense budgets and overly rely on the US.
“They should be paying more,” he said.
Trump was responding to reporters after NBC News reported earlier Thursday that he is considering a plan to calibrate US military support in a way that favors member countries which spend a higher proportion of more of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.
The president has previously called for allies to lift annual defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current two-percent target, which NATO expected only 23 of 32 members to meet last year.
Countries deemed to be underspending might not be defended if attacked, according to the reported plan.
