If Japan needed reassurances it was indeed still the US's top ally and friend in the increasingly unstable Asia-Pacific, it got that and then some. But what was striking about the Trump-Ishiba meeting at the White House was what didn't happen.

During the Friday meeting, the president plans to cover a range of issues in his meeting with the Japanese prime minister, including Japanese investment in the U.S. economy and improving cyber security.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump announced Japan would double its defense spending by 2027 and Nippon Steel would invest in U.S. Steel, not buy it.