Nippon Steel remained mum on Monday after a weekend of firm indications that its proposed acquisition of United States Steel is not going to happen.

The company declined to comment even after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted on Friday and then clarified on Sunday that the Japanese company would not be taking control of the U.S. steelmaker, and even after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba noted on Sunday during a television program that U.S. Steel would remain American.

The last comment from Nippon Steel came on Thursday when its vice chairman, Takahiro Mori, expressed confidence in the takeover proposal.

Since then, the company has declined to make a statement about its plan for a merger with U.S. Steel and related lawsuits — one challenging the U.S. government’s rejection of the deal on national security grounds and another targeting two individuals and a U.S. company for their efforts to oppose the deal.

Japanese government officials did make comments Monday that indicated a change in plan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Nippon Steel is not seeing the deal as a simple acquisition but was considering a “bold proposal” completely different from what has been discussed so far. Hours later, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya echoed those comments.

They both noted that it is not appropriate for the government to comment in detail about discussions between private companies.

The $14.9 billion purchase of Pittsburgh’s U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel was announced in late 2023. About a year later, then-U.S. President Joe Biden rejected the deal, saying it was a threat to national security. During his campaign for president, Trump also said he was against the acquisition.

Since the deal was first pitched and through all the challenges, Nippon Steel has spoken confidently about the transaction and its likelihood of completion.

On Friday, Trump — after a meeting with Ishiba in Washington — indicated that Nippon Steel would be making an investment in U.S. Steel and not purchasing it. On Air Force One on Sunday, the U.S. president said that no one would become the majority owner of U.S. Steel.

In his comments Sunday, Ishiba raised the question of the difference between investment and ownership, and added that the exact percentage of stock that could be purchased and still keep the company American would be up to the talks between the two companies.

"People in the U.S. have a deep-rooted pride in the fact that U.S. Steel was once the world's largest steelmaker,” Ishiba said on the TV program. “The key is whether American people will feel that the company remains fundamentally American.”

Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto is expected to meet Trump this week.

During the summit in Washington, Ishiba also pledged to boost Japan’s investment in the U.S. to $1 trillion from the current $800 billion.

Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at the Nomura Research Institute, wrote in a report on Monday that if Nippon Steel has to give up on the acquisition plan, the company’s global business strategy would be considerably derailed.

“If Nippon Steel withdraws the acquisition plan and the lawsuit against President Biden, there is a risk that Japanese companies may become more hesitant to purchase U.S. companies because their attempts may be blocked again,” he added.

Prior to the meeting with Ishiba, Trump met with U.S. Steel Chief Executive David Burritt at the White House. U.S. Steel posted a photo of Burritt and Trump on Saturday, with a caption saying, “Thank you, President Trump, for your interest in a thriving future of U.S. Steel.”

Nippon Steel stock fell 0.54% on Monday, the first trading day since Trump's and Ishiba's recent comments about the deal.