Trump praises Takaichi as 'one of the great prime ministers' in New York

US President Donald Trump met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's high-level week in New York, praising her leadership and Japan's economy.

"The industry in Japan is doing very well. The country is doing very well. It's a very big improvement, and it's an honor to be with her. She's a friend of mine. We got to know each other very well over the last period of time," said Trump.

"She's going to go down as one of the great prime ministers," he added.

Takaichi thanked Trump for his "very, very powerful commitment to the Japan-US alliance," saying the meeting was a chance "to demonstrate to the world how robust our alliance is" amid an "increasingly severe security environment."

Their "person-to-person" relationship, said Takaichi, would help drive policy coordination, and that bilateral economic security cooperation in AI, semiconductors and critical minerals "has been steadily advancing."

She also noted that she had "made a bold decision to have the Cabinet reshuffled," bringing in 10 new ministers out of 18.