Japan has re-elected its first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, in a landslide victory for her ruling coalition, giving it a two-thirds majority in the lower house. Her own affiliated party, the Liberal Democrats, won a majority by itself. Takaichi is a strong supporter of both the United States and of President Trump, whose conservative policies she mirrors in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Takaichi, 64, took a gamble only three months into office by calling a snap election to consolidate her power. The straight-shooting conservative won her bet as her coalition of the Japan Innovation Party and the Liberty Democratic Party, the LDP of yore, took 310 out of 465 seats in the lower chamber. Her super-majority gives her enough votes to override any vetoes by the upper chamber.
Takaichi’s goals since coming into office have been to beef up the economy, strengthen the country’s military, and, with the U.S., build a strong defensive posture against China.
The first two goals are definitely Trumpian, but whether the MAGA master himself is willing to commit to a strong defense of Taiwan and the Pacific region in general is another question altogether.
Takaichi, who met Trump on his Asia swing in October, is set to visit the White House in March. Trump strongly supported her re-election campaign.
“Prime Minister Takaichi is someone who deserves powerful recognition for the job she and her Coalition are doing and, therefore, as President of the United States of America, it is my Honor to give a Complete and Total Endorsement of her, and what her highly respected Coalition is representing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social two days before Saturday’s election.
“We stand at a crossroads that will profoundly transform our nation,” Takaichi wrote on social media after her victory.
