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Newsweek
23 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Trump's 'Largest Deal Ever' Faces Japan Diet in Crisis
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. When President Donald Trump revealed that his administration had struck a "massive" trade and investment deal with Japan, he described it as "completed"—but it must still pass the Japanese parliament, called the Diet, which is riven with political turmoil. The deal will likely require—at least in part, if not in full—approval by the Diet, where Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition government very recently lost its majority in the upper chamber, having already become the minority in the lower chamber in 2024. A Japanese lawmaker in the lower house, who chairs a key policy committee of the left-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), the main opposition, told Newsweek they are closely scrutinizing the Trump deal to assess whether they are satisfied with it. They will then decide how to proceed. Ishiba, of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), still the largest party in the Diet, said he would stay on to see through the implementation of the U.S. trade deal, rather than cave to calls for his immediate resignation and create a political vacuum. Analysts said that opposition parties may seek to criticize Ishiba and the deal, but the alternative of blocking it in the Diet could backfire and lead to higher tariffs. Newsweek has contacted the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for comment. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room at the White House on February 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room at the White House on February 7, 2025 in Washington, It Matters Trump has said he will make deals that benefit both sides, hailing his unique abilities to do so. But the intense "America First" messaging surrounding Trump's deals poses a challenge for U.S. trading partners. They must balance Trump's demands against their own national interests, economic needs, and views of voters, while projecting a degree of strength and independence to show they are securing gains and not merely surrendering to Washington. The Japanese deal, whose advantages to the U.S. Trump has heavily emphasized, highlights the potential vulnerability of these agreements to domestic politics. Trump's Japan Trade Deal The deal was struck ahead of Trump's August 1 deadline, when, in a letter to Ishiba, he had said Japanese imports would face a 25 percent tariff in the U.S. if negotiations failed to bear fruit. Trump had previously questioned the strategic U.S.-Japan partnership, including a long-standing security agreement with its key East Asian ally, citing what he said was an unfair set of trading terms because the Japanese market was too closed off to Americans. Trade talks between the two sides had been stuck on imports of American rice in particular. But negotiations continued, and Trump revealed the deal in a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, July 22. Trump said Japan had agreed "at my direction" to invest $550 billion into the U.S.—spanning energy, semiconductors, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, and shipbuilding—but that 90 percent of the profits from these would be kept by the U.S. He also said Japan would open up to American car and truck exports, rice and other agricultural products, and more goods. Japan would still face a 15 percent tariff, Trump said, but U.S. businesses will have a zero tariff. Among the specific measures in the deal are a Japanese commitment to immediately increase rice imports from the U.S. by 75 percent and a Japanese purchase of 100 Boeing aircraft, according to a White House fact sheet. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a press conference at the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters on July 21, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a press conference at the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters on July 21, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. Philip Fong - Pool/ Getty Images Japan's CDP Will 'Carefully Scrutinize' Trump Deal Kazuhiko Shigetoku, a lawmaker in the Diet's lower house from the opposition CDP, told Newsweek that the deal means "the uncertainty of the economic outlook has eased." "However, in terms of the perspective of the national interest, we need to carefully scrutinize the content of the agreement to determine whether it is satisfactory and how it will affect the Japanese economy," Shigetoku said. "We will determine our future actions based on explanations from the government at the Diet and other meetings. Although the need for congressional approval is unclear at this stage, we believe that it is important to maintain and expand free trade." Mixed Reactions in Japan Ishiba's recent election loss was driven in large part by voter frustration with rising prices while wage growth is slow. His weakened minority government must now push through a hard-fought trade agreement, one that Trump has touted as a major win for the U.S. "Early reactions among Japanese lawmakers have been mixed, with the Ishiba administration touting the deal as a success and members of the opposition claiming it is bad for the Japanese economy," Kristi Govella, Associate Professor at the University of Oxford and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Newsweek. "For Japanese people, trade negotiations with the U.S. have been seen as a litmus test of the current government's leadership ability, so politicians are currently fighting to control the narrative about how good this deal really is for Japan." Kazuto Suzuki, professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and director of the Institute of Geoeconomics at International House of Japan, said the Trump deal was "well received by both the ruling and opposition parties." "Given that many lawmakers did not expect the Ishiba administration to succeed in reaching an agreement, the fact that it was achieved came as a surprise," Suzuki told Newsweek. "Moreover, while it was considered difficult to lower tariffs on automobiles and automobile parts, the fact that they were reduced to 15 percent is highly regarded. "However, this does not compensate for the major defeat in the Upper House election on July 20, and criticism of Prime Minister Ishiba is growing." He added: "It is unlikely that the Diet will reject this agreement. If it were to reject it, higher tariffs would inevitably be imposed, which would benefit no one." Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech during a plenary session at the lower house of parliament on January 24, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech during a plenary session at the lower house of parliament on January 24, 2025, in Tokyo, National Interest Govella said opposition parties "have a great deal of incentive to criticize the trade deal and to capitalize on the weakness of the Ishiba government," but "actually blocking the deal's approval could backfire badly." Higher tariffs "would have significantly worse impacts on the Japanese economy and on Japanese people who are already feeling the effects of inflation," she said. Japanese voters have "generally been skeptical about the opposition's ability to lead" after their experience with the Democratic Party of Japan from 2009 to 2012, she continued. "So if the current opposition parties are perceived to be acting against Japan's national interest by blocking this deal, they could lose the supporters they've recently gained," Govella said. What People Are Saying President Trump posted to Truth Social: "We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made … This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan." Prime Minister Ishiba told reporters, per The Wall Street Journal: "The government was determined to protect national interests," adding that the deal "will lead to Japan and the U.S. working together to create jobs, produce high-quality goods, and contribute to fulfilling various roles in the world going forward." What's Next Japanese lawmakers are scrutinizing the trade deal with the U.S.. They are unlikely to block it should they be called to vote on some or all of its components, though the Ishiba government no longer has a majority in either house of the Diet, complicating its passage.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Judge blocks Trump's birthright citizenship restrictions in third ruling since high court decision
BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from ending birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the U.S. illegally, issuing the third court ruling blocking the birthright order nationwide since a key Supreme Court decision in June. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, joining another district court as well as an appellate panel of judges, found that a nationwide injunction granted to more than a dozen states remains in force under an exception to the Supreme Court ruling. That decision restricted the power of lower-court judges to issue nationwide injunctions. The states have argued Trump's birthright citizenship order is blatantly unconstitutional and threatens millions of dollars for health insurance services that are contingent on citizenship status. The issue is expected to move quickly back to the nation's highest court. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement the administration looked forward to "being vindicated on appeal.' New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who helped lead the lawsuit before Sorokin, said in a statement he was 'thrilled the district court again barred President Trump's flagrantly unconstitutional birthright citizenship order from taking effect anywhere.' "American-born babies are American, just as they have been at every other time in our Nation's history,' he added. "The President cannot change that legal rule with the stroke of a pen.' Lawyers for the government had argued Sorokin should narrow the reach of his earlier ruling granting a preliminary injunction, saying it should be 'tailored to the States' purported financial injuries.' Sorokin said a patchwork approach to the birthright order would not protect the states in part because a substantial number of people move between states. He also blasted the Trump administration, saying it had failed to explain how a narrower injunction would work. 'That is, they have never addressed what renders a proposal feasible or workable, how the defendant agencies might implement it without imposing material administrative or financial burdens on the plaintiffs, or how it squares with other relevant federal statutes,' the judge wrote. 'In fact, they have characterized such questions as irrelevant to the task the Court is now undertaking. The defendants' position in this regard defies both law and logic.' Sorokin acknowledged his order would not be the last word on birthright citizenship. Trump and his administration 'are entitled to pursue their interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, and no doubt the Supreme Court will ultimately settle the question,' Sorokin wrote. 'But in the meantime, for purposes of this lawsuit at this juncture, the Executive Order is unconstitutional.' The administration has not yet appealed any of the recent court rulings. Trump's efforts to deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily will remain blocked unless and until the Supreme Court says otherwise. A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a ruling earlier this month prohibiting Trump's executive order from taking effect nationwide in a new class-action lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante in New Hampshire had paused his own decision to allow for the Trump administration to appeal, but with no appeal filed, his order went into effect. On Wednesday, a San Francisco-based appeals court found the president's executive order unconstitutional and affirmed a lower court's nationwide block. A Maryland-based judge said last week that she would do the same if an appeals court signed off. The justices ruled last month that lower courts generally can't issue nationwide injunctions, but it didn't rule out other court orders that could have nationwide effects, including in class-action lawsuits and those brought by states. The Supreme Court did not decide whether the underlying citizenship order is constitutional. Plaintiffs in the Boston case earlier argued that the principle of birthright citizenship is 'enshrined in the Constitution,' and that Trump does not have the authority to issue the order, which they called a 'flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands of American-born children of their citizenship based on their parentage.' They also argue that Trump's order halting automatic citizenship for babies born to people in the U.S. illegally or temporarily would cost states funding they rely on to 'provide essential services' — from foster care to health care for low-income children, to 'early interventions for infants, toddlers, and students with disabilities.' At the heart of the lawsuits is the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1868 after the Civil War and the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision. That decision found that Scott, an enslaved man, wasn't a citizen despite having lived in a state where slavery was outlawed. The Trump administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship. 'These courts are misinterpreting the purpose and the text of the 14th Amendment,' Jackson, the White House spokeswoman, said in her statement. ____ Associated Press reporter Mark Sherman in Washington contributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
I love standing on the soil of Scotland, Donald Trump says after landing in country
DONALD Trump has said he 'loves standing on the soil of Scotland' after landing in the country on Friday evening, according to the Scottish Secretary. Ian Murray told the PA news agency what the US President's first words were after disembarking from Air Force One in Prestwick. The UK Government minister was the first person to greet the president in Scotland as he begins his four day visit to the country. Speaking after meeting the American leader, Murray told PA: 'The president came off the flight, and I said, 'Mr president, welcome to Scotland – the home country of your dear mother', and he said, 'It's great to be here, I always love standing on the soil of Scotland'. READ MORE: LIVE: Updates as protesters rally against Donald Trump in Scotland 'I said, 'I hope you're looking forward to a bit of downtime with some golf this weekend', and he said, 'Yes'. And I said, 'Well, we've whipped up a bit of a wind for you to make it a bit more competitive', and he went, 'I'm looking forward to it'.' Murray said Trump was given a 'warm reception' as he got off his presidential plane. Hundreds gathered on the Mound overlooking Prestwick Airport for the president's arrival. A Trump flag was flown while a few spectators wore 'Make America Great Again' hats, although many of those attending were locals and aviation enthusiasts, including some who had travelled from England. Murray said: 'Spotters hills, as it's called, where all the plane spotters come to Prestwick, was absolutely full. 'You could see that from the tarmac and as Air Force One came in, people were snapping away on their photographs. 'To see all that happening is quite a spectacle in itself. 'It's really good to have that kind of focus on Scotland.' Trump will meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his trip to discuss the UK-US trade deal as Britain hopes to be spared from the president's tariff regime. The Scottish Secretary said: 'Really, the purpose of this weekend, the purpose of greeting the president off the plane, the purpose of the Prime Minister's relationship with the president is to build that close relationship, to make sure that that old alliance is nurtured, and to do that for the benefit of the national interest, which is about jobs and growth here in the UK, and particularly Scotland.' Trump will meet Scottish First Minister John Swinney during his trip as he opens a new golf course in Aberdeenshire. (Image: PA) Before flying to Prestwick, Trump said in Washington that he was 'looking forward' to meeting Swinney, describing him as a 'good man' – the same phrase he used for the Prime Minister after landing in Scotland. Asked about the president's relationship with the UK, Murray said: 'The Prime Minister has taken a very pragmatic approach to the relationship with the president of the United States, because it's in our national interest to do so, whether it be on defence, security, trade, cultural, historic ties. 'It's a historic alliance, and that alliance has to be nurtured and continue through to the future, because it's quite clear that our relationship with United States is good for jobs and growth here in Scotland and across the UK. 'The Prime Minister knows that, and knows that working very closely with the US is in our national interest.' Asked about protests, which are expected across the country, Murray said people had a right to demonstrate, adding: 'Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom to protest is a key cornerstone of both countries, America and the UK, and the right to be able to protest if they so wish to so.'
