Earlier, President Donald Trump met with newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who said she would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
President Donald Trump delivers a speech in front of U.S. Navy personnel, alongside Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka on Tuesday. Philip Fong / AFP via Getty Images
After speaking for about 53 minutes, Trump wrapped up his remarks to U.S. troops, exiting the stage to the song “YMCA.” According to a White House official, there were about 6,000 troops in the crowd.
Trump is now heading back to Tokyo, where he will have dinner with business leaders.
Trump turned to one of his favorite subjects, shipbuilding.
Though the U.S. builds its own military ships, its commercial shipbuilding industry peaked around World War II. Since then the industry has come to be dominated by China, Japan and South Korea, while the U.S. accounts for less than 1% of global commercial shipbuilding.
“We used to be No. 1 at making ships, and then we lost our way,” Trump said. “But now we’re starting to make ships again, and we’ll do it very soon.”
He cited last year’s $100 million purchase of the Philly Shipyard by South Korea’s Hanwha Group, which says it will help modernize the Philadelphia shipyard.
“We’re going to be working also with Japan on making a lot of ships,” Trump said.
Trump said he wanted to thank Japan, which “is making big investments into the United States.”
Japan has pledged to invest $550 billion in the U.S. as part of a trade deal Trump announced in July, though the two sides are still working out the details.
“They’re a big investor in our country, and we like that,” Trump said.
Trump and Takaichi in Yokosuka, Japan, today. Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
He said he had just been told by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that Toyota, one of Japan’s biggest automakers, would be “putting auto plants all over the United States to the tune of over 10 billion.”
“So go out and buy a Toyota,” Trump said.
Trump said he would “send more than the National Guard” into troubled U.S. cities, as legal battles mount over his plans to deploy guard members across the country.
Troops have been deployed in Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis, Portland and Washington, with some federal deployments drawing pushback.
“We can’t have cities that are trouble,” Trump said. “And if we need more than the National Guard, we’ll send more than the National Guard.”
Trump said his administration would continue to target drug traffickers, justifying his military strikes on fishing vessels, including a submersible recently hit by the U.S.
“How about the submarine?” Trump said. “They said, ‘No, that was just fishing.’ Submarines don’t go fishing. Do they know more about submarines than I do?”
Trump, during a riff on military aviation, took a jab at former President Joe Biden, erasing any pretense of avoiding politicizing the military.
Biden used to claim that “he was a pilot, a truck driver, or whatever, whoever walked in,” Trump said. “He wasn’t a pilot. He wasn’t much of a president either,” he added.
There is no record of Biden claiming to be a pilot or truck driver.
Trump opened his remarks by thanking the Navy amid chants of “Trump! Trump!” and “USA,” before recognizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, calling him “a tough cookie,” and praising the strikes the U.S. military has conducted in recent weeks on boats in Caribbean and Pacific waters that the U.S. says are carrying drugs.
“You gave up a lot and we appreciate it,” Trump told Hegseth, noting that “those drug ships aren’t coming in anymore.”
Speaking after Trump, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi thanked U.S. troops in Japan for their dedication to peace in the region. She recalled how six years ago in Yokosuka, Trump and the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stood next to one another and “demonstrated resolve that Japan and the United States will join hands to ensure peace and security.” Takaichi said she was determined “to carry forth that resolve.”
Trump last visited Yokosuka’s naval port in 2019, when he hosted a Memorial Day rally for service members abroad the USS Wasp following a four-day state visit. He is speaking today in front of a banner that reads “Peace Through Strength.”
The crowd erupted as Trump repeated his support for a pay raise, before he took a swipe at Democrats over the government shutdown, which is now in its 28th day.
“All we really have to do is get the Democrats to approve,” Trump said.
Trump was joined on stage by Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who met with Trump earlier today.
“This woman is a winner,” Trump said. “I have a really great respect for the new and incredible prime minister,” he said, noting that Takaichi is Japan’s first female prime minister.
Trump and Takaichi on board the U.S. Navy's USS George Washington aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan. Philip Fong / AFP via Getty Images
Takaichi, who said the two allies were “facing an unprecedented severe security environment,” said last week that Japan would increase defense spending to 2% of GDP by March, two years ahead of schedule. The move is sure to please Trump, who has also pressured Japan to bear a greater share of the cost of hosting U.S. troops.
“Japan is committed to fundamentally reinforce its defense capabilities, and Japan is ready to contribute even more proactively to peace and stability of the region,” Takaichi said.
Service members and press are awaiting Trump aboard the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan. The president will deliver remarks from the aircraft carrier during a visit to the Yokosuka Naval Base today.
Earlier, the crowd heard remarks from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who arrived in Tokyo today as part of a larger Asia trip.
Service members and press aboard the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan, today. Katherine Doyle / NBC News
Later today, Trump and Hegseth will attend a dinner with business leaders in Tokyo.
Trump praised Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, saying the United States and Japan are allies “at the strongest level” as the two leaders signed agreements on trade and critical minerals.
“We’re going to do tremendous trade together, I think, more than ever before,” he said before their bilateral meeting.
Trump also said he appreciated Japan’s efforts to increase its military capacity and buy more U.S. defense equipment. “Any favors you need, anything I can do to help Japan, we will be there,” he said.
Takaichi, who said last week that Japan would increase its defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product by March, two years ahead of schedule, said that together with Trump, Japan was “ready to contribute towards peace and stability.”
Takaichi gave Trump a golf bag signed by Japanese major winner Hideki Matsuyama and a putter that belonged to assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a close ally of Trump who was also Takaichi’s mentor.
Trump’s assistant Margo Martin posted a video of the two leaders with the gifts on X.
Speaking before his meeting with Takaichi, Trump said Abe was “a great friend of mine.” His killing in 2022 was “so shocking,” Trump told Takaichi, “but he spoke so well of you even before we knew what was going to happen in your ascension.”
A man accused of fatally shooting Abe is set to go on trial today in the western Japanese city of Nara, where Abe was killed while he was giving a speech during an election campaign.
In a final event at the Akasaka Palace, Trump and Takaichi posed for a photo with Japanese families whose loved ones were abducted by North Korea in the 1960s and ’70s.
Though some were later returned to Japan, the Japanese government continues to press North Korea to provide full details about everyone who was abducted and return any who are still alive.
President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi today, with family members of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea. Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
“The U.S. is with them all the way,” Trump said of Japan’s efforts.
Asked whether he would speak with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about the abductions, Trump said, “We’ll be discussing it.”
During today’s bilateral meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that she is nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. She then presented the papers to him.
Trump did not win this year’s prize, but his supporters argue that the Gaza peace deal makes him the most deserving candidate for 2026.
NBC News