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Trump Hosts a Bilateral Meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan, Feb. 7, 2025

February 7, 2025 · The White House · 0:26:58

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump hosted Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan for a bilateral meeting at the White House on Feb. 7, 2025, carried on the White House channel. Ishiba thanked the President for the invitation and recalled being moved by the photograph of the President raising his fist after the July 2024 assassination attempt, which he called one of the most unforgettable scenes, as he stated it through an interpreter.

Taking questions in the meeting, the President put the trade deficit with Japan at about $100 billion, as he stated it, and said he wanted it brought down to “even equality,” adding that tariffs remained an option if the deficit did not reach equilibrium. He said he would announce the reciprocal-trade program the following week - “so that we’re treated evenly with other countries. We don’t want any more, any less” - and confirmed auto tariffs were under consideration on the same equalizing logic. He also said he would probably meet President Zelenskyy the following week.

Why it matters

The bilateral is the working session behind the day’s press conference: the deficit figure, the tariffs-as-backstop answer, and the reciprocal announcement’s timing all stated by the President in the room, a week before the reciprocal program was unveiled.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the reciprocal-trade announcement the President said on Feb. 7, 2025 would come the following week - recorded here as stated in the meeting.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Hosts a Bilateral Meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan” (YouTube, 2025-02-07) - official description and broadcast transcript as aired.