US president Donald Trump heaped praise on Japan's first female leader Sanae Takaichi and said the Asian nation will become a U.S. “ally at the strongest level” as he signed deals on rare earths and trade.

President Donald Trump met with Japan's first female prime minister Tuesday in Tokyo before signing deals on trade and critical minerals to mark "a new golden age."

Long-pacifist Japan is adopting a more muscular military stance as relations with China worsen, with Takaichi pledging to spend 2% of GDP on defense.

Japanese companies have, little by little, been cracking the door open to more defense exports. A new political coalition is now poised to kick it all the way down.

New Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will travel to South Korea later this week to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

TRUMP IN JAPAN: President Donald Trump is in Japan, the second stop of his three-country tour of Asia. He met with newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this morning, and will soon address U.S. troops on board the USS George Washington.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is intending to recommend President Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize as the pair meet in Tokyo to discuss trade and security, sources have revealed.