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.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington Friday. The meeting between Trump and one of the United States' strongest allies in the Indo-Pacific region is expected to focus around economic and security issues along the theme of "a free and open Ind-Pacific" against tightening military control by China.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrived Thursday evening for his roughly 24-hour visit to Washington. He came to the White House on Friday near midday and was expected to spend a little more than two hours with Trump for a working lunch and a joint news conference before making the return trip to Tokyo.