Trump gets royal welcome in Japan as hopes for China trade truce rise

US President Donald Trump received a royal welcome on Monday in Japan, the latest leg of a five-day Asia trip which he hopes to cap with an agreement on a trade war truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump, making his longest journey abroad since taking office in January, announced a flurry of deals on trade and critical minerals with four Southeast Asian nations during the first stop in Malaysia and is set to meet Xi in South Korea on Thursday. Negotiators from the world’s top two economies hashed out a framework on Sunday for a deal to pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, US officials said.

The news sent Asian stocks soaring to record peaks. “I’ve got a lot of respect for President Xi and I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Trump told mediapersons on Air Force One before landing in Tokyo.

Wearing a gold tie and blue suit, Trump gave a few fist pumps before his helicopter whisked him off for a scenic night tour of Tokyo, several of its towers lit up in the red, white and blue of the American flag. He later went to the Imperial Palace, where he shook hands and posed for photographs with Japanese Emperor Naruhito. Thousands of police were guarding Tokyo after a knife-wielding man was arrested on Friday outside the US embassy, and an anti-Trump protest was planned in downtown Shinjuku. Trump has already won a $550-billion investment pledge from Tokyo in exchange for respite from punishing import tariffs.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is hoping to impress Trump on Tuesday with promises to purchase US pickup trucks, soybeans and gas, and announce an agreement on shipbuilding, sources say.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Monday. Their first in-person meeting touched upon the Takaichi government’s proactive fiscal policy and Japan’s investment pledge.

Dismisses 2028 V-P bid, won’t rule out third term

Trump on Monday ruled out running for Vice-President in the 2028 election but declined to definitively say he would not seek a third term, keeping alive speculation about how he might seek to extend his time in office.

Scholars say he is barred from running for the

Vice-President as he is not eligible to be the President.