Japan has halted a meeting with the United States after the US government increased its demand for defense spending without prior notification. The summit was supposed to take place on July 1 in Washington and was part of the annual “2+2” talks between top officials from both countries.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were supposed to attend the meeting with Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, but Japan canceled. The entire thing blew up when Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior official at the Pentagon, pushed a new demand for Japan to increase its defense budget to 3.5% of GDP. Just weeks ago, the number was 3%. People close to the talks said the demand crossed a line.
Japan cancels meeting before key election as tensions grow
The Upper House elections, which are set to take place on July 20, are another factor. A senior official in Japan said the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is already bracing for seat losses, and the leadership didn’t want to deal with a public defense clash with Washington just weeks before voters hit the polls. Canceling the 2+2 meeting was seen as less risky than walking into it with a US delegation pressing for more military spending.
Christopher Johnstone, a former US government official who worked on Japan policy, said Japan sees these meetings as a top priority. “They provide politically valuable opportunities to showcase the strength of the US-Japan alliance,” he said. But this time, he said they felt “the political risk of a meeting before the election was higher than the potential gain.” Johnstone now works as a partner at The Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm.
The defense drama comes as the Trump administration pressures both Europe and Asia to increase military budgets. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last month, Pete told a room full of defense ministers and military leaders that America expects its allies to “follow the newfound example” of European nations stepping up. He pointed at China and North Korea as reasons for raising defense spending in the Pacific.
Elbridge has been leading the talks. During his Senate confirmation hearing in March, he called on Japan to raise its budget. That didn’t sit well with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Ishiba said budget decisions will be made by Japan, not the Pentagon. Not only did that moment get attention in Tokyo, but it also set the tone for how the rest of this relationship had gone.