If Ishiba ca n’t rekindle public trust stifled by a scandal involving unrecorded donations to lawmakers, the less powerful upper house’s slim majority in Japan could also be in danger.
Under pressure from citizens and opposition parties to increase spending on security and take measures to mitigate rising costs, his immediate concern is creating a secondary budget for the fiscal year through March.
The Democratic Party for the People ( DPP ), which is most likely led by Yuichiro Tamaki, must be supported for him in order for him to be approved.
Although he and Ishiba have discussed cooperation, DPP lawmakers did not support Ishiba’s continued as prime minister on Friday.
After admitting an extramarital affair to a tabloid magazine on Monday, Tamaki is in a precarious position as well.
Ishiba now has a slate of international engagements, including a Group of 20 summit in Brazil on November 18 and 19 after his election as president.
On the way to or from that gathering to meet Trump, he is also attempting to arrange a stopover in the US.
Some Japanese officials worry that Trump will use protectionist trade restrictions to pressure Tokyo into agreeing to pay more for the cost of stationing US troops there.
These issues were largely smoothed over in Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021, by the close ties between the president and Japan’s then-premier, Shinzo Abe- a bond Ishiba seems keen to re-establish.  ,