U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Friday and said the two countries would work to cut Washington's trade deficit with Tokyo amid escalating trade tensions threatening to rupture the global economy.

President Donald Trump said Friday he wants to slash the U.S. trade deficit with Japan as he welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the White House for their first face-to-face meeting. Trump added that he isn't taking the possibility of levying tariffs against Japan off the table,

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will go to the White House to try to rekindle Japan’s relationship with President Donald Trump — and to fend off potential tariffs.