{"id":69181,"date":"2019-07-30T18:09:39","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T18:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/30\/why-did-trump-attack-the-us-japan-security-alliance\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:00:10","slug":"why-did-trump-attack-the-us-japan-security-alliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/07\/30\/why-did-trump-attack-the-us-japan-security-alliance\/","title":{"rendered":"How Trump\u2019s attacks on the US-Japan security alliance could affect readiness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Japan hosts approximately 54,000 U.S. troops, but experts argue complications that may arise during upcoming host nation support negotiations could shake up the current landscape and undermine readiness of U.S. troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every year, Japan provides host nation support to offset costs of keeping U.S. troops in Japan. U.S. negotiations are expected to begin soon because the current arrangement will expire in March 2021. But experts contacted by Military Times believe the Japanese are likely bracing themselves for testy discussions with the U.S. over the amount of host nation support they provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[The] Japanese are anticipating that this is going to be a problem with Trump,\u201d Daniel Sneider, a lecturer in international policy at Stanford University, told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The issue is attracting scrutiny in light of President Donald Trump\u2019s recent decision to pick a fight with Japan over the U.S.-Japan security alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The alliance, which was first signed in 1951 and then updated in 1960, requires the U.S. to defend Japan if it is attacked. The agreement also provides the U.S. bases in Japan, allowing the U.S. have a forward deployed aircraft carrier strike group in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/05\/30\/white-house-tells-navy-to-keep-destroyer-mccain-out-of-sight-during-trump-visit-to-japan-report-says\/\" target=\"_blank\">Yokosuka, Japan<\/a>. Despite the national security advantages for the U.S., Trump believes the alliance is \u201cunfair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI said, look, if someone attacks Japan, we go after them and we are in a battle, full force, in effect,\u201d Trump said after the G-20 summit during a news conference in June. \u201cIf somebody should attack the United States, they don\u2019t have to do that. That\u2019s unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/asia-pacific\/2019\/07\/29\/japan-wants-to-be-an-official-f-35-partner-the-pentagon-plans-to-say-no\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f35B_cropped.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Japan wants to be an official F-35 partner. The Pentagon plans to say no.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Defense News has obtained a letter from Japan&#039;s Ministry of Defense asking how to transition from F-35 buyer, to full-fledged partner.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump also said he told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the alliance must be revised, but claimed he wasn\u2019t interested in withdrawing from it. Japan\u2019s constitution also bars war as a \u201csovereign right\u201d of Japan, although Japan has stepped up and worked within its limits to allow its Self Defense Forces to support allies in some overseas operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s unclear how the president envisions modifying in the alliance or what he would want changed, leaving the remarks up for interpretation to experts and others. The White House did not respond to a request for comment for clarification from the Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think what the president was trying to say was that allies of the United States need to invest more in defense and enhance their capabilities so that the burden on the U.S. military can be reduced,\u201d said Nicholas Szechenyi, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than completely overhaul the U.S.-Japan security alliance, Szechenyi said he expects host nation support \u201cwill also become a contentious issue in the U.S.-Japan alliance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a result, Japanese policy makers anticipate the Trump administration will exert pressure to gain concessions from Japan on economic and burden sharing issues, said Zack Cooper, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the current host nation support agreement that was approved in 2016, Japan is required to pay approximately $1.8 billion in host nation support each year. Japan also pays approximately $1.65 billion each year on measures designed to subsidize base-hosting communities, per a June 2019 Congressional Research Service report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Conversely, the U.S. has paid roughly $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion per year on nonpersonnel costs \u201cin recent years,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/crsreports.congress.gov\/product\/pdf\/RL\/RL33740\">Congressional Research Service<\/a> report said, citing the Department of Defense Comptroller.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/02\/10\/south-korea-us-sign-cost-sharing-deal-for-american-troops\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19041220353037.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">South Korea, US sign cost-sharing deal for American troops<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">South Korea and the United States struck a new deal Sunday that increases Seoul\u2019s contribution for the cost of the American military presence on its soil, overcoming previous failed negotiations that caused worries about their decades-long alliance.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Expected negotiations over host-nation support Japan come after the U.S. wrapped up a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/02\/05\/us-korea-reach-cost-sharing-agreement-on-troop-presence\/\" target=\"_blank\">host-nation support agreement with South Korea<\/a> in February 2019, following arbitrations experts labeled \u201ccontentious.\u201d The one-year agreement ultimately resulted in South Korea paying $70 million more than it did the previous year. In the past, host nation support arrangements typically spanned the course of five years, but South Korea and the U.S. now must tackle the issue annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, hashing out renewals each year will negatively impact troops overseas and will jeopardize readiness of troops, Szechenyi said when asked about the ramifications of the U.S. and Japan also adopting annual agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRepeated negotiations over host nation support could generate uncertainty about U.S. troop deployments and affect planning and readiness,\u201d Szechenyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sneider also warned complications stemming from host nation support would pose additional challenges in managing troops overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think the pressures on host nation support with both Korea and Japan will not lead immediately to reduction of troop levels, particularly in Japan,&#8221; Sneider said. \u201cBut they will make it more difficult to manage our force presence since the funding supports the bases in very important ways, such as paying for the local work force that maintains the bases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;And more deeply, a nasty fight over host nation support payments will call into question the reliability of our security alliances,\u201d Sneider added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cooper believes Japan is prepared to renew the host nation support agreements annually, but noted controversy surrounding a renewal could emerge if the U.S. asks for an absurd contribution from Japan, or Trump continually bashes Japan in public and threatens to withdraw U.S. troops or end the alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf, however, there are serious questions about renewal in the next year \u2014 or if President Trump is re-elected in 2020 \u2014 then I would expect the U.S. military to start considering possible options for force drawdowns in Northeast Asia,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Cooper is doubtful the situation will escalate in that manner, he does expect Trump will take a series of actions in the near future, including threatening to decrease U.S. military support to Japan, and either threatening or actually imposing tariffs on automobiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the economic front, Sneider said the Japanese have interpreted Trump\u2019s critical comments about the treaty as solely a negotiating tactic in trade discussions that are expected later in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A high-ranking Japanese Defense Ministry official expressed similar sentiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy take is that Trump does not have the intent to overhaul the treaty, but aims to win a big concession from Japan in bilateral trade talks by linking the defense issue to trade,\u201d the official said, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.asahi.com\/ajw\/articles\/AJ201906300030.html\">according to Asahi Shimbun<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to media reports, trade was a topic of discussion for the two leaders when they met in May and in June. The two leaders are also slated to meet next in September to discuss a trade agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Szechenyi said he didn\u2019t anticipate \u201cradical proposals\u201d revamping the foundation of the U.S.-Japan security alliance, but said such statements from Trump still present red flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s important to avoid the kind of rhetoric that the president is using because China and North Korea would like nothing more than for the U.S.-Japan alliance and other alliances in Asia to weaken,\u201d Szechenyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe rhetoric damages both U.S. interests and Japanese interests because it could provoke China and North Korea,\u201d Szechenyi added. \u201cSo this is going to be a challenge going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Experts pinpointed two critical issues that could have motivated Trump\u2019s remarks: upcoming trade negotiations with Japan, and the expiration of an agreement dictating how much funding Japan contributes to host U.S. troops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":103880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3305],"class_list":["post-69181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7IKT5DJAWVBDZASRTJSS3VBW5Q","arc_canonical_url":"\/2019\/07\/30\/why-did-trump-attack-the-us-japan-security-alliance\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Trump\u2019s attacks on the US-Japan security alliance could affect readiness - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Experts pinpointed two critical issues that could have motivated Trump\u2019s remarks: upcoming trade negotiations with Japan, and the expiration of an agreement dictating how much funding Japan contributes to host U.S. troops.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Trump\u2019s attacks on the US-Japan security alliance could affect readiness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Experts pinpointed two critical issues that could 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