Japan Stays Guarded on Trump’s Ship Demands Ahead of Summit

Japan’s defense minister said the US hadn’t made a specific demand to send ships to the Middle East, following media reports that Tokyo has started to explore that possibility ahead of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s summit with US President Donald Trump this week.

“There hasn’t been a concrete request from the US side for a dispatch and that includes my telephone conversation with Secretary Hegseth the night before last,” Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters. “First and foremost, we need to quickly calm down the situation.”