'Never underestimate American resolve'

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[h=1]Trump boasts about US military might in affront to North Korea as he greets the troops at Yokota Air Base outside Tokyo[/h]

• President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump landed in Japan on Sunday morning local time
• First couple arrived at Yokota Air Base just outside of Tokyo and President Trump promptly spoke to the troops
• In a speech at the base, he warned America's enemies the U.S. 'will never yield'
• 'No one - no dictator, no regime and no nation - should underestimate, ever, American resolve,' he said, nudging North Korea
• President and Japanese prime minister will enjoy lunch and catch up over a round of golf today

 

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President Donald Trump warned America's enemies that the U.S. 'will never yield, never waver and never falter in defense of our people' on Sunday.
'American soldiers are prepared to defend their nation using the full range of our unmatched capabilities,' he said at Yokota Air Base just outside of Tokyo. 'No one - no dictator, no regime and no nation - should underestimate, ever, American resolve.’
Those that have underestimated the U.S. in the past, 'it was not pleasant for them, was it,' Trump told American and Japanese troops stationed at the base in Western Tokyo, nudging North Korea.
Trump arrived in Japan this morning on the first leg of his marathon tour of East Asia.
The U.S. president and his wife, Melania, the first lady of the United States, landed just before 11am local time on Sunday at Yokota, where Trump promptly delivered remarks to a crowd of a couple thousand soldiers.

 

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U.S. President Donald Trump addresses troops at the U.S. Yokota Air Base near Tokyo

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'American soldiers are prepared to defend their nation using the full range of our unmatched capabilities,' Trump boasted

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US President Donald Trump is helped putting on a Commander in Chief jacket upon arriving at US Yokota Air Base in Tokyo

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US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania smile upon arriving at US Yokota Air Base

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President Trump waves from the steps of Air Force One after arriving at Yokota Air Base just outside of Tokyo

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Donald Trump and Melania wave before he gave a speech to American and Japanese troops

 

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Lt. Gen. Jerry Martinez, the commander of U.S. Forces Japan, presented Trump with a commander-in-chief jacket on the stage.
Trading it for the suit jacket that he already had on, Trump said, ‘I like this better.’
‘Aw, boy, that’s something. This is a great group of people,’ Trump said. ‘I’ll issue one of your favorite commands. Are you ready? At ease,’ he said.
Two fighter jets flown in just for the occasion flanked Trump – a F-16 from the Misawa Air Base in Japan and a F-35 from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, per a U.S. military official. A C -130 transport plane that’s regularly assigned to Yokota nosed into the hangar as part of the display of American force.
A major U.S. Air Force base in Japan, Yokota would play a significant role in any conflict in the Indo-Pacific region, as U.S. officials are now calling it.
‘We’re the central hub for all of the Indo-Asian Pacific region, so everything flies through here,’ said Cpt. Jared Abramowicz, 27, the officer in charge of the base’s budget, confirming that the theater extends beyond Japan to South Korea.
Col. John Hutchinson said the base and its squadron of C-130J 'Super Hercules' transport aircraft would be able to 'provide tactical airlift support all over the Pacific.'
'All of our bases in Japan would play a major role,' he told DailyMail.com in reference to a potential conflict with North Korea.
Abramowicz described the U.S.-Japanese relationship at the base ‘a team alliance,’ saying the foreign power provides ‘great support’ to the American troops stationed at Yokota.

 

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U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived in Japan on the first leg of his marathon tour of East Asia

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President Donald Trump and Melania arrive at Yokota Air Base just outside of Tokyo

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President Trump salutes as he disembarks from Air Force One at Yokota Air Base

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US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania are welcomed as they arrive in Japan

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Members of U.S. military services and Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) wait for the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump at U.S. Air Force Yokota Air Base in Fussa

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President Donald Trump greets members of the military after speaking at Yokota Air Base

‘You know we have a treaty with Japan where if Japan is attacked, we have to use the full force and might of the United States,’ Trump said at an August rally. ‘If we’re attacked, Japan doesn’t have to do anything. They can sit home and watch Sony television, OK?’
Trump has repeatedly claimed the U.S. is paying ‘50 per cent of the cost’ for U.S. troops in Japan. The Japanese defense ministry said in January that it contributes closer to 86.4 per cent of the funds, per the Japan Times.
Abramowicz, the base budget director at Yokota, said Sunday that ‘we pay for a lot of’ the finances at the location but sidestepped questions about how much the U.S. contributes versus Japan.
Japan’s Defense Ministry requested an overall budget of ¥5.26 trillion, or $48 billion, for its military in the 2018 fiscal year, a record high for the country, earlier this year.
Last month Abe's party secured control over Japan's government for four more years with a landslide victory in the nation's general election.
‘Clearly, there’s a mandate, I think. The president, when he spoke to congratulate Prime Minister Abe on the big election win earlier this month, spoke of the mandate that he has,’ a U.S. official told reporters on Tuesday in response to a question about Trump's past statements on Japan's military expenditures. ‘And part of his mandate clearly is, of course, that of any leader’s, which is to defend the Japanese people and uphold his alliance.’

 

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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave goodbye from Air Force One as they prepare to leave Hawaii

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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet people before departing for a 10 day Asia trip from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu

 

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According to Reuters, new Japanese defense spending would fund upgrades to Japan’s ballistic missile defense system, six F-35 fighters, four V-22 Osprey tilt rotor troop carriers and new naval vessels.
Trump said in a September tweet, that he would be ‘allowing Japan & South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States.’ He did not say what equipment the U.S. intends to sell either country, however.
U.S. Air Force troops stationed at Yokota that work hand-in-hand with soldiers in Japan’s Air Self Defense Force made up the bulk of Trump’s audience on Sunday that included American troops from all branches of the military.
Among them was Dylan Steele, 23-year-old Marine Sgt. based at Camp Lejune in North Carolina who said he’s been in Japan for a few months on a training mission.
‘I’m just excited to see the commander in chief in person,’ the soldier said of the experience.
Steele he wanted Trump to say ‘Just that he’s excited to see how the forces are doing out here, and you know, anything that, anything that could be coming down from him.’
Abramowicz likewise said, ‘It’s gonna be an awesome opportunity to hear his perspective on Japan and protecting the region and such.’
Before Trump’s arrival, Col. Kenneth Moss, 374th Airlift Wing commander, said from the stage that the sitting president’s visit was the first all-call from a commander in chief.
‘There’s a reason he’s coming here first. He knows that the U.S. Forces Japan are the pivotal elements to peace and stability in the Pacific region,’ the installation commander said.
Moss said Trump asked to ‘gather the most lethal instruments of peace and stability and put them in a hangar.’
‘He knows that in the world, to our allies, America is no better friend, no worse enemy for enemies,’ Moss stated.

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The Trumps with join Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and his wife for dinner at Ginza Ukai Tei (pictured), a Japanese fine-dining establishment, today

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Trump and Abe (pictured together in February 2017) have a low-key Sunday that precedes a day of rushed talks on Monday that will cover trade negotiations and North Korea’s unruliness

With formal meetings on the books tomorrow with the Japanese government, Trump has casual plans to golf this afternoon with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The first lady is joining Mrs. Abe for tea and an afternoon of cultural activities.
In the evening, the couples will reunite for dinner at Ginza Ukai Tei, a Japanese fine-dining establishment that’s described on its English-language website as having an ‘atmosphere where art-nouveau and Japanese style meet, and it is just like a museum.’
Trump and Abe’s low-key Sunday precedes a day of rushed talks on Monday that will cover trade negotiations and North Korea’s unruliness. Trump will meet that afternoon with families of Japanese nationals whose loved ones were kidnapped by the North Korean government.
The U.S. president’s day begins with a state call to Japanese Emperor Akihito.
Tokyo is Trump's first overseas stop on a 12-day race around the region. The U.S. president left Washington on Friday for Honolulu, Hawaii, which he used as a stopover on his way to Japan.
Trump will travel to South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines before he heads back to the U.S.