Japan's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed during their first summit on Tuesday to strengthen the bilateral alliance's deterrence and response capabilities and to enhance economic cooperation.

Takaichi, who became Japan's first female prime minister last week, pledged to build with Trump a"new golden era" of the Japan-U.S. alliance and told him Japan will take the initiative in increasing its defense spending.

After their talks in Tokyo, she told reporters,"I am convinced that I can take the Japan-U.S. alliance to new heights with President Trump."

At the outset of their meeting, Takaichi described the bilateral relationship as"the greatest alliance in the world," with both sharing the goal of promoting a "free and open Indo-Pacific."

The two leaders reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, apparently with China in mind, and emphasized continued U.S. involvement in efforts to denuclearize North Korea amid its missile and nuclear development.

Takaichi and Trump exchanged views on issues related to China and expressed their opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion, according to the Japanese government.

The two also pledged to step up multilateral collaboration involving like-minded nations such as South Korea, the Philippines, Australia and India.

Takaichi and Trump signed documents on cooperation to secure and supply rare earths and other critical minerals to strengthen economic security, and affirmed the steady implementation of a trade agreement reached in July.

Takaichi sought to build a personal relationship with Trump, as the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had, taking time to praise Trump for what she called his"unprecedented historic achievements" in promoting peace in the Middle East and helping broker a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia.

Takaichi even told Trump that she would recommend him for the Nobel Peace Prize, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. The prime minister also reiterated Japan's plan to donate 250 cherry trees to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence next year.

Takaichi is widely regarded as a protege of Abe, who was assassinated in 2022 and was known for forging a personal rapport with Trump during his first four-year U.S. presidential term beginning in 2017.

During the talks, they both referred to Abe multiple times, with Trump calling him"a great friend of mine," and Takaichi recalling that Abe often spoke of Trump's "dynamic diplomacy."

Trump told Takaichi that they will have "a fantastic relationship," saying,"I have always had a great love of Japan and a great respect of Japan, and I will say that this will be a relationship that will be stronger than ever before."

"I want to just let you know -- any time you have any question, any doubt, anything you want, any favors you need, anything I can do to help Japan, we will be there," Trump added. He welcomed Japan's increased purchases of U.S. defense equipment.

On Tuesday, Trump, along with Takaichi, also met with family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, reiterating Washington's commitment to resolving the issue that has long weighed on relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang, which have no official ties.

With Trump demanding that U.S. allies boost their defense budgets, Takaichi later said Japan is committed to"fundamentally" reinforcing its defense capabilities. But she also said no specific figure was discussed at the talks with Trump.

Takaichi, a hard-line conservative and security hawk, pledged in her parliamentary speech last week to raise Japan's defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by March, two years ahead of the previously set goal of fiscal 2027.

Japan has been raising its defense budget significantly since the fiscal 2027 target was set when the government in late 2022 revised its long-term National Security Strategy, which Takaichi has vowed to update next year.

After the talks, Takaichi and Trump flew on the Marine One presidential helicopter to the aircraft carrier George Washington at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo, where they delivered speeches in front of military personnel.

Trump introduced her by saying,"We've become very close friends all of a sudden," before Takaichi said Japan is "ready to contribute even more proactively to peace and stability in the region."

The summit at the capital's State Guest House came as Tokyo and Washington have been beefing up their longtime alliance to address Beijing's intensifying military activities in the East and South China seas and Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development programs.

Against a backdrop of high U.S. tariffs and China's control over rare-earth exports, the rivalry between Washington and Beijing across various fronts has been intensifying.

The bilateral trade agreement struck in July includes a Japanese commitment to invest $550 billion in key U.S. industries, such as semiconductors, critical minerals and shipbuilding, as well as increased purchases by Japan of U.S. agricultural and other products.

Japanese firms have already expressed interest in investment projects in the United States worth $400 billion in total, the Japanese government said.

Based on the deal, Trump lowered U.S. tariffs on goods from Japan, reducing the levy on automobiles to 15 percent from the previous rate of 27.5 percent.

At their working lunch, the U.S. delegation was served American rice and beef cooked with Japanese ingredients, the White House said, in an apparent appeal by Tokyo to Trump with the trade deal in mind.

Takaichi presented Trump with a map showing major investments Japan is making in the United States, and both sides discussed the importance of ending Russia's war in Ukraine and critical minerals, the White House added.

Trump also met in the evening with Japanese business leaders, including SoftBank Group Corp. CEO Masayoshi Son.

Trump, who last visited Japan in 2019 for a Group of 20 summit in the western city of Osaka, is on a three-nation Asian tour from Friday and visited Malaysia for Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related meetings before arriving in Japan.

He will next travel to South Korea, where he plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.