Japan’s New Leader Is Set to Face a Trump Test

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Sanae Takaichi won’t have much time to savor her election as Japan’s first female prime minister.

In just a few days, President Donald Trump is set to visit Tokyo on a swing through Asia.

Takaichi might be just the right leader for Japan for that all-important first meeting with the US commander-in-chief.

Sanae Takaichi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, center, receives a round of applause during an extraordinary session at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Takaichi won the lower house of parliament vote to become Japan's prime minister on Tuesday, effectively making her the first woman to clinch the nations top presidentship job. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg — Sanae Takaichi at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo today.

Like Trump, Takaichi admires tough nationalist leaders — in her case, the UK’s Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher — and wants to coordinate with the US to counter China’s efforts to reshape the global order. She’s committed to accelerating moves to build up Japan’s military, which may help assuage Trump as he looks to Asian allies to rely less on American protection.

They’ll likely also bond over memories of Shinzo Abe, the assassinated former Japanese prime minister who struck up a close relationship with Trump and mentored Takaichi as a rising political star.

Takaichi’s ascent marks a shift back to the right in Japanese politics after her Liberal Democratic Party suffered two successive election losses under the leadership of centrist Shigeru Ishiba.

The rise of smaller right-wing populist parties prompted the LDP to respond in kind. Takaichi’s platform includes tighter controls on foreign investment and the growing foreign population — demands of those same populist parties.

She’s triggered investor expectations of aggressive fiscal pump-priming in the vein of “Abenomics,” but her first order of economic business is to tackle accelerating inflation, voters’ top concern.

In a nation known for churning through premiers, her political longevity will depend on her ability to manage a new minority coalition with the reformist Japan Innovation Party, which is pushing for cuts in taxes and the number of lawmakers.

Takaichi has said she’ll work “like a horse” to bring prosperity and resilience to Japan as Asia’s Thatcher. It’s a bold goal in a culture that remains dominated by men. — Alastair Gale

WATCH: Bloomberg’s Jon Herskovitz lays out some of the challenges that lie ahead for the incoming leader.

Global Must Reads

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WATCH: Donald Trump and Anthony Albanese agree to a critical-minerals deal.

Trump cast doubt on Ukraine’s ability to defeat Russian forces, backing off an earlier upbeat assessment as he prepares for another summit with President Vladimir Putin in coming weeks — though there are signs that is not imminent. US Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the chamber will hold off on considering legislation promising punishing new sanctions on Russia until after Trump meets Putin.

Trump said the US will destroy Hamas if the militant group doesn’t continue to honor the ceasefire with Israel, with a fragile truce resuming after a weekend of heavy fighting in Gaza. White House mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Israel yesterday for meetings intended to solidify the truce, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said US Vice President JD Vance was due today.

Bulldozers carrying Egyptian flags clear ground near destroyed buildings in Gaza City, Gaza, on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. Israel said it has resumed a truce with Hamas in Gaza after heavy fighting over the weekend, with the sides accusing each other of breaching a deal brokered by US President Donald Trump. Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg — Bulldozers carrying Egyptian flags clear ground in Gaza City on Sunday.

Argentina’s central bank and the US Treasury signed a currency swap line for $20 billion, a vote of confidence for President Javier Milei ahead of Sunday’s midterm elections. The deal is a key pillar of a sweeping rescue package Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put together in a whatever-it-takes approach to stabilize the volatile South American economy.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s government predicts losses could total 100 billion baht ($3.1 billion) from disruptions to cross-border trade with Cambodia, after a longstanding territorial dispute erupted into armed conflict this year. Following the closure of border crossings between the two countries, Thai businesses have lost an estimated 15 billion baht monthly, we report today.

Morocco plans to increase next year’s budget for social services after youth-led protests against spending for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

TOPSHOT - Members of the security forces detain a protester during a youth-led demonstration demanding reforms in the healthcare and education sectors in Sale on October 1, 2025. Two people were killed when officers opened fire on a group of people attempting to "storm" a police station in Morocco on October 1, state media said, as protests -- sometimes violent -- roil the north African nation. Demonstrations have convulsed Morocco for several days, urged on by the GenZ 212 group, a recently formed collective based on the Discord web platform whose organisers remain unknown. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP) (Photo by ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT/AFP via Getty Images) Photographer: ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT/AFP — Members of the security forces detain a protester during a demonstration in Sale, Morocco, this month.

The International Monetary Fund is urging Egypt to speed up a long-running plan to divest from state assets, a cornerstone of an $8 billion program that helped the North African nation emerge from its worst crisis in decades.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said that Republicans must take seriously the surge of political energy across the US after millions of people turned out for “No Kings” protests over the weekend opposing Trump’s agenda.

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Chart of the Day

Canadians are increasingly downbeat on the economy as a trade war with the US grinds on, putting pressure on a range of key industries. More than half of citizens say they think the economy will get weaker in the next six months, the highest proportion since May, according to the weekly Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index.

And Finally

This month, Facebook’s owner Meta pulled the plug on all political advertising across the European Union in response to the bloc’s new transparency rules. That’s got politicians, academics and activists worried that moderate voices will be robbed of one of their main ways of reaching voters online, while leaving the ground open for the divisive and extreme content that is often rewarded by platforms’ algorithms. The first test will come in this weekend’s elections in the Netherlands, where anti-immigrant Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders’ posts regularly go viral through a mix of support and outrage.

An election campaign poster for Geert Wilders’s Freedom party along the Hofvijver lake, near the Binnenhof government building complex, in The Hague, Netherlands, on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. Dutch parliamentary elections are scheduled for Oct. 29. Photographer: Lina Selg/Bloomberg — A campaign poster for Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party in The Hague.

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And Finally

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