Trump Meets Takaichi at UN Amid US-Japan Currency Support

US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will meet in New York next week during the UN General Assembly, according to US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz. This meeting marks their first in-person discussion since Washington helped prop up Japan's currency in late July, when the yen dropped to a near four-decade low around 164 per dollar.

The joint intervention by Washington and Tokyo was the first such coordination since 1998, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defending the move as helping US exporters and reducing the need for Tokyo to liquidate US holdings to fund interventions in the FX market. Takaichi arranged this meeting to align on China before Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The agenda will likely include trade issues, the conflict in Iran, and Japan's desire to enlarge its armed forces to push back against China in the neighborhood. The tariff truce between the US and Japan last year included the creation of a Japanese investment vehicle totaling $550 billion. Trump has lauded Tokyo for buying US-made defense gear.