Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba seemed to know just what to say, and not say, during a joint news conference Friday with President Donald Trump. Asked whether his government would retaliate if the U.

President Donald Trump says he wants to slash the U.S. trade deficit with Japan. Trump made the comments as he welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the White House on Friday for their first face-to-face meeting.

Ishiba said his country was the biggest investor in the United States and would step up its spending. The soft-spoken, cigarette-smoking Ishiba had rushed to Washington hoping to