Key facts
- Senior US diplomats, administration officials, and Indo-Pacific military commanders met in Tokyo.
- The meeting was described as an "unusual" gathering ahead of President Donald Trump's planned visit to China in November.
- The meeting aimed to exchange intelligence, coordinate diplomatic reporting, and align regional priorities.
- US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi declared a "new golden age" for the US-Japan alliance.
- Trump and Takaichi signed an agreement on strategically important raw materials.
- Japan announced it would increase defense spending to 2% of economic output.
Senior American diplomats, administration officials, and Indo-Pacific military commanders convened in Tokyo earlier this month for what one source described as an "unusual" gathering. The meeting occurred ahead of US President Donald Trump's planned visit to China in November.
People familiar with the meeting indicated it represented an evolution of a long-standing practice where US ambassadors across Asia and the Pacific would gather to exchange intelligence, coordinate diplomatic reporting, and align regional priorities.