Welcoming State of the Union Address

Japanese media reported the first State of the Union Address of United States President Donald Trump with surprise on unexpectedly moderate tone of his speech. They were also skeptical on the implementation of Trump’s economic policy, which could be represented by major investment on infrastructure. Shinzo Abe administration was satisfied with his reference to North Korean nuclear and missile problem as an important issue.

Newspapers in Japan seemed to have been expecting the populist President to make harsh speech against his political enemies. That expectation was soon diminished. Mainichi Shimbun quoted a sentence that required cooperation of Democrats. “Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve.” The newspaper reported that Trump announced his devotion to the policy of supporting illegal immigrants, which Democrats had been demanding.

Investment of infrastructure can be regarded as a policy without major difference between Democrats and Republicans. He promised at least $1.5 trillion in next ten years. However, there was no financial endorsement for the implementation. When he proposed $1 trillion of infrastructure investment last February, Trump failed in persuading the Capitol Hill with clear budgetary vision. Budgetary resource is always the crucial point in the discussion over public investment.

Japanese government focused on his unusual insistence on North Korea. “No regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea. North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland. We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening” Trump stressed. North Korean issue looked like the most important policy in US diplomacy and security.

Abe administration apparently welcomed Trump’s involvement in pressure policy. “We positively evaluate President’s address of powerful message of further pressure in the time when North Korea continues nuclear and missile development,” told Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. An officer with Ministry for Foreign Affairs welcomed Trump’s reference to “maximum pressure,” and another one realized US stronger commitment to North Korean issue, focusing on Trump’s wording of “depraved character” of North Korean regime. Trump administration is nothing more than a tool for Abe’s hawkish policy.