>> shortly after the welcoming ceremony, president biden and

prime minister fumio kishida held a news conference highlighting the nation's ties on trade and defense and announced a summit between the two nations in the philippines. this is about 30 minutes. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> distinguished guests, the president of the united states and the prime minister of japan. pres. biden: please, have a seat. it's an honor to stand here today with the prime minister of japan, prime minister kishida. when i became president, i said the united states would rebuild the muscle of our democratic alliances and we stand

shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies again, because our alliances are america's greatest asset and our relationship with japan is powerful proof of that, that, that investing in our alliance, raising our collective ambitions, we yield remarkable results. over the last three years, the partnership between japan and the united states has been transformed into a truly global partnership and that is thanks in no small part to the courageous leadership of prime minister kishida, and i mean that sincerely. ing to our countries are taking significant steps to strengthen defense, security, cooperation, modernizing command and control structures and increasing interoperability and planning of our militaries so they can work together in a seamless, effective ways the most significant upgrade in our alliance since it was first established. i'm also pleased to announce that for the first time, japan and the united states and australia will create a network

system of missile and defense architecture. we are also looking forward to standing up a trilateral military exercise with japan and the united king dm and our partnership with australia and the united kingdom is exploring how japan can join our work in a second pillar which focuses on advanced capabilities including ample i., autonomous systems. all told that represents a new benchmark for our military cooperation across a range of capabilities. on the economic front, our ties have never been more robust. japan is the top foreign investor in the united states. say that again. japan is the top foreign investor in the united states. and we, the united states, are the top foreign investor in japan. nearly one million americans work in japanese companies here in the united states. and to name just one example, a few months ago, toyota announced an $8 billion investment in a massive battery production

facility in north carolina which willem ploy thousands of people. the prime minister is going to travel to north carolina tomorrow to visit that project. don't stay. don't stay, we need you back in japan. they'll probably try to keep you. we also anumber the science and education ties between japan and the united states. those ties stretch up to the moon. where two japanese astronauts will join future american missions and one will become the first non-american to ever land on the moon. and they reach into the high schools and universities as well, where the -- where ambassador mineta's program exist, named for our dear friend normmy net tasm we'll invest in student exchanges, help train the next generation of japanese and american leaders. we'll also discuss developments in the middle east including our shared support for a ceasefire and hostage deal and urgent efforts to deal with a

humanitarian crisis that exists in gaza. we want to address the iranian threat, they're threatening to launch a significant attack on israel. as i told prime minister netanyahu, our commitment to israel's security gets these threats from iran and its proxies is ironclad. we're going to do all we can to protect israel's security. finally, i want to commend the prime minister himself. he's a statesman. you know, the fact is that you condemned putin's brutal invasion of ukraine when it happened. you pledged more than $12 billion in aid. prioritizing nuclear nonproliferation at the united nations security council. standing strong with the united states as we stand up for freedom of navigation. including to the south china sea. as we maintain peace and stability across the taiwan straits and taking the brave step of mending ties with the

republic of korea so we can all stand shoulder-to-shoulder together. tomorrow, we will both be ginned by another good friend, president marcos of the philippines, for a trilateral summit, first of its kind. through it all, our commitment to the defense of japan under article v, including the islands is unwavering. mr. prime minister, through our partnership we have strengthened the alliance. we have expanded our work together. we raised our shared ambitions. and now the u.s.-japan alliance is a beacon to the entire world. there's no limit what our countries and our people can do together. so thank you for your partnership, your leadership and your friendship. and now over to you, mr. prime minister.

>> appreciate you and illinois for inviting us. -- and jill for inviting us. president biden and i have met and talked countless times and concerns shared that we are at crucial crossroads. and that the partnership is immensely important. the international community stands at a historical turning point. in order for japan, the u.s., the indo-pacific region, and for that matter the whole world, to enjoy peace, stability, and prosperity, lasting into the future, we must resolutely defend and further solidify a free and open international order based on the rule of law.

and again today, i told the president that now is the time to demonstrate the true values that japan and the united states can offer, that we must together fulfill our responsibilities to create a world where human dignity is upheld and that japan will always stand firm with the united states. i explained that based on our national security strategy, japan is determined to strengthen our defense force, increase our defense budget, and other initiatives and was reassured by president biden of his strong support for such efforts. in such context, we confirmed again the urgency to further

bolster the deterrence and response capabilities of our alliance. and concurred on reinforcing our security and defense corporation to increase interoperability between the u.s. forces and our self-defense forces including the improvement of our respective command and control frame works. we will be discussing the specifics as we plan for the next japan-u.s. two plus two. the president and i went on to discuss various specific challenges faced by the international community. first, we confirmed that unilateral attempts to change status quo by force is absolutely unacceptable wherever it may be and that we will continue to respond resolutely

against such action through corporation -- through cooperation with allies and like-minded nations. from such perspective, we agree that our two countries will continue to respond to challenges concerning china in close coordination. at the same time, we confirmed the importance of continuing our dialogue with china and cooperating with china on common strategies. we also underscored the importance of peace and stability in the taiwan straits and confirmed opposition to encourage peace -- and confirmed our position to encourage peaceful resolution of the straits issue.

north korea and nuclear development was brought up as well. we welcome progress base and the outcome of the summit last august and concurred to coordinate even manufacturer closely as we face serious concerns with the current state of affairs. president biden once again demonstrated his support toward the immediate resolution of the issue. we reaffirmed the importance of realizing free and open done pacific based on the rule of law. and remain in close collaboration through various opportunities through the summit which is planned for tomorrow. regarding aggression in ukraine, base and the recognition that

ukraine today may be east asia tomorrow, i expect a resolution to continue with stringent sanctions against russia and strong support for ukraine and we continue to maintain close partnership with like-minded countries. on the situation in the middle east, i expressed my respect for the efforts of president biden toward the release of the hostages, improvement of the humanitarian situation and for calming down the situation. i then explained how japan is continuing to diplomatic efforts to improve the humanitarian situation and to realize a sustainable ceasefire. and agreed to continue cooperation toward improvement

of the situation, the realization of the two-state solution, and the -- on the economy we condition curred that for both of us to lead in global economic growth together the promotion of investment in both directions is important. i explained how the japanese businesses are making a significant contribution to the u.s. economy by their investment and creation of jobs, to which president biden agreed. in order to maintain and strengthen the competitive edge in the area of technologies and to respond appropriately to issues such as the economic coercion, nonmarket policies and practices and excess capacity, and to overcome other

vulnerability of the supply chain and to lead sustainable and inclusive economic growth we affirmed that the collaboration of japan and the united states is indispensable. in addition, we concur to advance our cooperation in the area such as decarbonization, a.i. and startups. there was a huge achievement also in the area of space. in the first half of the 1960's, when i was in the united states, it was the dawn of space development in the united states. i am one of all those who was so excited in the u.s. by the spectacular challenge in space. an arrangement has been signed on this occasion and the provision of the -- on the

allocation of two astronaut flight opportunities to the lunar surface to japan were confirmed. under the artemis program, i welcome the lunar landing by a japanese astronaut as the first non-u.s. astronaut. we also discussed the efforts toward a world without nuclear weapons. we affirmed the realistic and practical endeavors on nuclear disarmament including the hiroshima vision last area and i welcomed the participation of the united states in the s.n.c. defense which was launched by my initiative. lastly, in order to further strengthen the people-to-people bond which is is the cornerstone

of our unwavering japan-u.s. relationship, we promote people-to-people exchanges. at the outcome of our meeting today, we will issue the joint statement titled "the global partners for the future." this is the expression of the determination of japan and the united states to maintain and strength on a free and open international order based on the rule of law that underpins the peace, stability, and prosperity of the international community and states the guiding principles with our -- with the future of japan, the indo-pacific and the united states and make that future all the more prosperous. pres. biden: thank you. now we'll take a few questions. jordan, bloomberg.

reporter: thank you, mr. president. last month, you predicted the federal reserve would cut interest rates thanks to falling inflation. but today data showed inflation rose more than expected for the third straight month. so how concerned are you about the fight against inflation stalling and do you stand by your prediction for a rate cut? pres. biden: i do stand by my prediction that before the year is out there will be a rate cut. this may delay it for a month or so, i can't say what the fed will do for certain. but we have reduced inflation from 9% to close to 3%. we're in a situation where we're better situated than we were when we took office where inflation was skyrocketing. and we have a plan to deal with it. whereas my opposition talks about two things. they want to cut taxes for the wealthy and raise taxes on other people. and so i think they have no plan.

our plan is one i think is sustainable. reporter: mr. prime minister uric said in the acquisition of u.s. steel is a private matter. did you discuss the matter today with president biden and do you believe that politics are influencing president biden's decision to oppose the deal? i wouldn't mind mr. president if you answered that one too. >> on the issue you have raised, we understand the discussions are under way between the parties. we hope these discussions will unfold in directions that would be positive for both sides. japan believes that appropriate decisions based on law is being implemented by the u.s. government. japan is the largest investor to the united states. japanese businesses employ close

to one million workers in the united states. and investment from japan to the u.s. can only increase upwards. in the months and years to come. and we wish to cement this win-win relationship. thank you. pres. biden: i stand by my commitment to american workers. i am a man of my word, i'm going to keep it. with regard to that i stand by our commitment to our alliance. this is exactly what we are doing, strong alliance as well. reporter: my question is to both prime ministerky shea ta and -- kishida and president biden. at the summit you confirmed your strong objections to using force

or coercion by china and agreed on response capabilities. under current standings should japan and the united states strengthen capabilities china may intensify its coercive may haver. in order to avoid a divide how should japan resporched? >> let me take that question first. this summit, we confirmed that the united states and japan will resolutely defend and bowles aerofree and open international order based on the rule of law and that japan and the united states as global partners shall work together for that purpose. on challenges concerning china, including the point you raised on objecting to unilateral

attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion, we concurred that japan and the united states as global partners shall work in close coordination. and also as i said previously, we will continue our dialogue with china and we will work with china impacting common challenges. the president and i confirmed the importance of such dialogue as well. based on the solid trust with our ally, the united states. we will continue to call on china to fulfill its responsibilities as a major

power. japan's policy which i have consistently embraced is to comprehensively -- the mutual relationship we have with china and establish a stable china-japan relationship through efforts by both sides. that has been my position that i have upheld. we will continue to seek close communication with china at all levels. that's it from me. pres. biden: first of all, we keep improving our lieives communications with one another, the united states and china. i recently spoke with president xi. we agreed we would number one have personal contact with one another whenever we wanted to discuss anything so there'd be

no -- nothing lost between the cup and the lip. so we know exactly what the other team is thinking. number one. so we had a long discussion lass ago now. the best way to reduce the chances of miscalculation and misunderstanding. that's number one. number two. the alliance we have with japan is purely defensive in nature. it's a defensive alliance. the things we discussed today improve our cooperation and are purely about defense and readiness. it's not aimed at any one nation or a threat to the region and it doesn't have anything to do with conflict. and so this is about restoring stability in the region. i think we have a chance of doing that. next question. who do i call on next? hang on a second. i've got a list here. hang on.

i apologize. reporter: my first question would go to both of you, mr. president and mr. prime minister. is there a path for japan to become a full member of okas. and for you, mr. president, you're saying that benjamin netanyahu is making a mistake in gaza. what are you willing to do to make him change his strategy and would you consider conditioning military aid to israel? thank you. >> thank you. your question about -- our country, we want to contribute to the peace and stability of the region and therefore we have consistently supported aukus.

we have established the various relationships. but for japan to have a direct cooperation with aukus nothing has been decided at this moment. going forward with u.s.-u.k., or with australia, with such countries, in bilateral or multilateral frameworks, we will continue our cooperation. so that will continue to be considered. at the moment, the relationship between japan and aukus, that's it. pres. biden: with regard to my discussions with prime minister netanyahu as well as our relationship with israel, i have

been very blunt and straightforward with the prime minister as well as his war cabinet as well as the cabinet. and the fact of the matter is that bibi and i had a long discussion. he agreed to do several things that related to number one, getting more aid both food and medicine into gaza. and reducing significantly the attempts -- the civilian casualties in any action taken in the region. and thus far, and we -- it's tied to the hostages. there are a number of hostages that are being held by hamas. and just yesterday we were meeting with the vice president and our national security adviser before that. and there are american hostages as well. they know how committed we are, the whole team, to getting their loved ones home. we're not going to stop until we do. the new proposal on the table, bill burns led the effort to -- for us, and we're grateful for

his work. it's now up to hamas. they need to mauve on the proposal that's been made. as i said, we get these hostages home where they belong. but also bring back a six week ceasefire that we need now. and the fact is that we are getting in somewhere in the last three days over 100 trucks. it's not enough. need more. and there's one more opening that has to take place in the north. so we'll see what he does in terms of meeting the commitments he made to me. reporter: thank you. i ask the question to both of you, as prime minister kishida mentioned, the abduction issue with north korea i believe was discuss. the prime minister, you have

expressed your wish to have a direct engagement with kim jeong unibut they say that abduction is already result which meaners the refusing. during that meeting what did you tell president biden about the summit and what engagement did you ask president biden. president biden, my question, what did you hear from prime minister kishida and what is your position, with regard to the nuclear missile, do you support the summit between japan and north korea? thank you. >> first of all, if i may start. regarding my summit meeting with president biden, about north korea, including the missile and nuclear issues, we have discussed regarding further increasingly worrying situation we have agreed to continue a close coordination and on top of

that, we condition curred. the window of the discussion was not -- with north korea is open and we discussed that japan-u.s. and reform o.k. will continue to work closely together. i also asked for the continued understanding and cooperation for the immediate resolution of the abduction issue and apprised president biden once again regarding the recent announcement by north korea, i will refrain from commenting on the announcement by north korea but as i have been mentioning repeatedly, based on the perspective of a meaningful relation between japan and north korea is in the interest of both

japan and north korea and it could be hugely beneficial to the peace and stability of the region, my policy is to aim for a summit meeting with north korea to resolve various issues and with advanced high level consultation directly under my instruction and that remains unchanged. that is my response. pres. biden: we did discuss this issue. we agleed dprk must also address the serious human rights and humanitarian concern os they have international community including the immediate resolution of the abduction issue. the prime minister has just spoken to the potential of what his plans may mean. i welcome the opportunity, we welcome the opportunity of our allies to initiate dialogue the democratic republic of kreeyasm i said many times we are open to dialogue ourselves at any time. without preconditions with the dprk.

i have i have faith in japan and the prime minister and i think seeking dialogue with them is a good thepbg. positive thing. thank you. president biden: why doesn't everybody holler at once? >> on the issue of abortion, what do you say to the people of arizona right now witnessing a law going in place that days back to the civil war? president biden: elect me, i'm in the 20th century -- 21st century. not back then. they weren't even a state. thank you. thank you all very much. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy visit ncicap.org] president biden: the war in ukraine comes by the house leader allowing a vote. there is overwhelming support for ukraine among the majority of democrats and republicans. there shoulde