Trump, After all Call With China’s Xi, Told Japan to Lower the Volume on Taiwan
Xi spent half the call hammering Trump about Taiwan, furious over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent comments suggesting Japan could join a military response if China attacked the island.
Hours later, Trump phoned Takaichi and gently suggested she cool her tone, according to both U.S. and Japanese officials. He didn’t pressure her to retract anything, but the message was clear enough that Tokyo interpreted it as Trump trying to protect his new trade détente with Beijing from any fresh Taiwan friction.
The episode shows how tightly Taiwan and trade have become linked in Trump–Xi diplomacy. Xi framed Taiwan’s “return to China” as part of the post-WWII order and emphasized Washington and Beijing’s shared responsibility to avoid destabilizing moves. Trump, meanwhile, has been leaning hard on China to speed up its promised purchases of U.S. farm goods, and didn’t want a Japan–China flare-up to derail the thaw.
Takaichi, who has built her brand on a tougher defense posture, appeared to soften slightly in parliament afterward, saying she hadn’t meant to get specific on a Taiwan contingency. Analysts in Tokyo noticed the order of calls (China first, Japan second) as a sign Trump is unusually willing to rein in an ally when it risks upsetting his relationship with Xi.