WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump appears to have picked up another Nobel Peace Prize nomination — this time from the new Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.
She told him during a meeting in Tokyo that she plans to put his name forward for the distinguished award.
Takaichi is the latest in a string of foreign leaders who have said they would nominate Trump for the award. He has said he deserves the honor but the prize committee gave it to Venezuela’s opposition leader earlier this month.
Trump congratulated Takaichi, who took office last week, on being the first female prime minister, telling her: “That’s a big deal, that’s a big deal and I want to congratulate you on that, I think that has to be called out.”
She told Trump publicly, through a translator, that the world has “started to enjoy more peace on the ground” and she valued his “unwavering commitment to world peace and stability.” Takaichi made the comments at the start of their meeting at Akasaka Palace.
Takaichi told him in private that she would be nominating him for the Nobel prize, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters accompanying Trump.
The leaders also agreed to work together to secure critical minerals and rare earths supply chains, as the U.S. looks to its Asian partners for help as China clamps down on exports of the materials that are used to make computer chips electric vehicles and military equipment.
A framework agreement signed by the U.S. and Japan calls for the countries to develop a coordinated plan to accelerate delivery of processed minerals.
“Any time you have any question, any doubt, anything you want, any favors that you need, anything I can do to help Japan, we will be there. We are an ally at the strongest level,” Trump told Takaichi as they began their discussion.
Takaichi was a close political ally of the late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who befriended Trump after his 2016 election and hosted him in Tokyo on his first trip to Asia as president the following year. Abe was assassinated in 2022.
The goodwill has extended to Takaichi. Trump told reporters after leaving Washington that Abe liked her and she liked him. “So that’s a good sign.”
As the leaders met for the first time in Tokyo and clasped hands, the president remarked, “That’s a very strong handshake.”
Takaichi said she and Trump were running a little behind because they were watching the beginning of the World Series.
She told Trump that her country would be giving the United States 250 cherry blossom trees in honor of its 250th birthday celebration next year. She also said Japan would provide fireworks for the celebration.
The leaders and their advisers later dined on American rice and beef, cooked with Japanese ingredients, during a working lunch. They discussed the Russia-Ukraine war and critical minerals, the White House said.
