Japan faces an era-defining reset with the US | FT #shorts

US-Japan Relationship Crisis - The US-Japan relationship faces its worst crisis in 25 years due to Donald Trump's transactional approach to defense and trade [1] - Escalating trade crisis could directly affect the balance of security across the Asia-Pacific region [3] - The US President regards Japan's $68 billion trade surplus as a sign of unfair trading practices [2] Political Dynamics - Current Japanese Prime Minister, Shigedu Ishiba, is having a harder time managing the relationship compared to former Prime Minister Shinszo Abbe [3] - The failure of Japan to recalibrate rapidly enough is a question for the US-Japan relationship [4] - Uncertainty around the US-Japan relationship suggests that both sides may have misread the others priorities [2]