Shigeru Ishiba: “[Japan] determines its own defense spending, not at the direction of any other country.”

I hope that we can confirm that by Japan and the U.S. cooperating on issues such as the economy and security, this will bring peace and allow for development not for the free and open Indo-Pacific region but also for the rest of the world.

We have exerted all our efforts to protect our national interests.

I look forward to working with President Trump, whom I respect immensely, to usher in a new golden age of Japan-U.S. relations.

The bottom line is, we must consider what will best serve Japan’s national interest.