When Donald Trump was elected to a second term as U.S. president, Japan braced for the worst. But the tumult generated by the first year of his second term has so far exceeded even Tokyo\u2019s deepest fears.<\/p>\n
Unlike during his first White House stint from 2017-2021, Trump\u2019s second term has seen him unshackled from norms and decor, free to make demands of the alliance and the world at large.<\/p>\n
From the threat of tariffs to demands that Tokyo ramp up defense spending and take on more responsibilities, to the White House\u2019s indifference toward upholding the rule of law and its kid-gloved approach to China, Trump is prompting a crisis of confidence in the alliance and hammering what some experts say is the proverbial final nail in the coffin of the liberal international order.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor better or worse, Trump 2.0 marks the end of the long postwar international order and the beginning of an era of blunt power politics,\u201d said Sebastian Maslow, an international relations expert and associate professor at the University of Tokyo. \u201cThe question is how Japan will adapt to this newly unfolding order and what role the bilateral alliance will play in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But dealing with Trump, who has almost systematically undermined some of the bedrock principles of the alliance, will be a necessity for the foreseeable future. Indeed, for Tokyo, the options are severely limited: the U.S is Japan\u2019s security guarantor and one of its biggest trading partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact of the matter is that Japan has few alternatives,\u201d said Maslow. \u201cAny departure from the U.S. alliance, despite all the contradictions this would entail regarding past rhetoric about the values the alliance symbolizes and preserves, would leave Japan more vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the past year, Tokyo has done and continues to do what it can to preserve some measure of the status quo.<\/p>\n
It has sealed a tariff deal to avert an economic crisis (in exchange for a $550 billion investment pledge), staved off immediate calls for higher defense spending as others faced Trump\u2019s fury, and Japanese leaders have successfully navigated the minefield of bilateral meetings with the U.S. president.<\/p>\n