Donald J. Trump’s election portended fundamental changes in America’s relations with its major trading partners and allies. However, Japan’s prime minister, Abe Shinzō, in developing a relationship with Trump as well as an understanding of how to deal with him, positioned Japan as a reliable partner of the US in its assertive stance against China and North Korea. Abe also understood the importance to Trump of image and perception and used this to Japan’s advantage throughout Trump’s term, particularly in his careful use of flattery and in Japan’s agreement to accept largely symbolic trade concessions. The Trump administration’s “America First” approach and its consequent abandonment of America’s leadership role in the region left a vacuum that Japan filled, notably in the resurrection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Japan’s concept of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” found support in Washington. However, Tokyo’s calibrated approach to China, which blended competition and cooperation, was not adopted by the US, which prioritized competition.

Argues that Trump did not transcend the Cold War or the approaches of his post–Cold War predecessors. While stylistically very different, the substance of Trump’s foreign policy was more similar to than different from that of Bush Jr. and Obama. Examines his trade war with China and the consistency of approach that underpinned it. Concludes by arguing why and how the US remained dominant after the Cold War, and the enduring advantages it enjoys over it competitors like China.