WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba offered lavish praise for US President Donald Trump in their first face-to-face meeting on Friday (Feb 7), taking great pains to get closer to the president.

Trump however pressed Ishiba to cut the US trade deficit with Japan to zero and warned that Tokyo could still face tariffs on exported goods if it fails to do so. Ishiba, an avowed “geek” and model warship fan, has been under pressure to replicate Trump’s close relationship with former premier and golf buddy, Shinzo Abe.

Ishiba will also look to remind Trump — who has proposed tariffs on both friends and foes in an effort to boost American manufacturing — about the long-running U.S.-Japan alliance. Japanese companies employ nearly 1 million Americans and have held the top spot for cumulative foreign direct investment into the U.S. over the last five years.