• US President Donald Trump has met with Japan’s new conservative prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, on the second leg of his Asia tour. Takaichi heralded what she hoped would mark “a new golden age of the Japan-US alliance,” and Trump told her she would be “one of the great prime ministers.”
• The leaders signed an agreement on securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earths. China has a near-monopoly on global rare-earth supplies, which Beijing has weaponized in its trade war with the US. Washington has been trying to cut deals with other nations to break the supply stranglehold.
• Back in the US, the Senate reconvened Monday, but with no signs of a breakthrough. Speaker Mike Johnson fiercely defended keeping the House out of session, contending GOP lawmakers were accomplishing critical work in their districts.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gifted US President Donald Trump a golf bag signed by golfing star Hideki Matsuyama and a putter owned by assassinated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe cultivated very close ties with the US during Trump’s first term, with the president describing him as “one of my best friends.”
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