Updated February 07, 2025 at 18:30 PM ET
President Trump delivered an update on U.S.-Japan relations during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Friday, announcing that Nippon Steel would be investing "heavily" in U.S. Steel rather than acquiring the storied American manufacturer.
The move would be a shift from Nippon Steel's initial pitch to acquire U.S. steel for $14.9 billion, which former President Joe Biden rejected while still in office. Trump also came out against the Japanese company's offer during his presidential reelection bid.
"U.S. Steel is a very important company to us," Trump said. "We didn't want to see that leave – and it wouldn't actually leave – but the concept, psychologically, not good. So they've agreed to invest heavily in U.S. Steel, as opposed to own it."
Trump, who referred to Nippon Steel as "Nissan" several times during the news conference, said he would be meeting with the company's leaders to work out the details of the agreement.
Ishiba said the Japanese spending on U.S. Steel would be part of $1 trillion in investments made by the country in the U.S.
The press conference followed Trump's meeting with Ishiba in the Oval Office. The Japanese prime minister is just the second international leader to meet with Trump at the White House since he returned to office. Trump first sat down with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Trump says DOGE will review "just about everything"
The president was also asked by reporters about Elon Musk's ongoing efforts leading the administration's federal cost-cutting initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Trump said DOGE would be going through "just about everything," but singled out reviews of both the Department of Education and the Pentagon.
"I've instructed [Musk] to go check out Education, to check out the Pentagon, which is the military, and you know, sadly, you'll find some things that are pretty bad, but I don't think proportionally, you're going to see anything like we just saw."
Musk has already taken steps to reshape several government departments and agencies. Notably, DOGE has taken steps to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and accessed the payment systems at the Treasury Department.
When asked by reporters if there were areas of the government that Musk wasn't able to touch, Trump said they "haven't discussed that much."
Trump suggested that some areas of government may be off limits to DOGE. "Maybe some high intelligence or something, and I'll do that myself if I have to, but generally speaking I'll just say go," the president said.
Trump was also asked about bringing back a former DOGE staffer who had resigned after it was discovered the employee had made racist posts on social media.
Trump said he was unaware of the incident, but then said he supported rehiring the staffer once he was informed that Vice President Vance was in favor of bringing him back.
Trump says more on Gaza
Ahead of Trump's meeting with the Japanese prime minister, the president took questions from reporters in the Oval Office.
He was asked about U.S. policy deliberations on Gaza and his comments from earlier this week to "take over" the Gaza Strip. Despite significant pushback to the remarks from international leaders and organizations, Trump told reporters he thought the pledge had been well received.
"Basically, the United States would view it as a real estate transaction, where we'll be an investor in that part of the world. And no rush to do anything," Trump said, adding the U.S. would not have "boots on the ground" and that Israel would "watch it, in terms of security."
"The fact that we're there, that we have an investment there, I think would go a long way to creating peace," Trump added. "We don't want to see everybody move back and then move out in 10 years."
Trump heads to Florida as GOP budget talks continue
Missing from the president's remarks at the White House was an update on where things stand with GOP lawmakers.
Trump has been pressuring Republicans on Capitol Hill to put forward a budget framework tailored to his policy agenda. Lawmakers are aiming to use their budget bill as part of the reconciliation process to avoid any potential filibuster from Senate Democrats.
House Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the chamber and have yet to release a proposal, but Senate GOP leaders plan to move forward with their own plan.
Trump met with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and some GOP members at points throughout a 5-hour meeting at the White House on Thursday. The president is also expected to sit down with a group of Senate Republicans Friday evening at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
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