Japan, Australia, India and the United States looked to dispel fears of a more isolationist Washington under new President Donald Trump, with the top diplomats of the “Quad” grouping reaffirming Tuesday a commitment to work together.

Coming just a day after Trump’s return to the White House, the meeting was seen as a veiled warning to Beijing, which has lambasted the Quad as a tool for containing China.

In a joint statement released after the talks, which were hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on his first day in the post, the four nations pledged to meet regularly to prepare for a leaders' summit in India that is expected later this year.

In his inauguration speech Monday, Trump skipped mention of America’s network of alliances and multilateral partnerships like the Quad and did not speak of the U.S.-led rules-based global order — key focuses of his predecessor. Instead, he signaled that he would make the United States a dominating force that would take whatever steps necessary to advance American interests.

But while Trump has been known to view alliances and multilateral groupings with skepticism, he has a history of lauding the Quad, especially since all four countries share concerns about Beijing’s growing power — and since countering China is a top priority of his administration.

In a sign that Quad leaders were hoping to maintain continuity on its approach, the joint statement also pledged that the partners would work to realize a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific where the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are upheld and defended.”

"We also strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion," the joint statement added, with the Japanese Foreign Ministry saying that this included discussion of the situations in the East China Sea, home to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, and the disputed South China Sea.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya also expressed "serious concerns" about North Korea's nuclear and missile activities, his ministry said, while also seeking their cooperation on a quick resolution to the issue of Japanese nationals abducted decades ago by Pyongyang.

The Quad, the brainchild of late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has undergone a number of shifts since its initial emergence in 2007. It was quickly shelved after Australia bolted the grouping in 2008 before being revived in 2017 under the first Trump administration and later expanded into a leaders' summit by former President Joe Biden in 2021.

While concerns lingered ahead of Tuesday’s meeting over how the second Trump administration might approach the Quad this time, the new administration appeared to have at least put some of those fears to rest.

Iwaya noted that the speed with which the gathering was held highlights Trump's acknowledgement of the importance of multilateral frameworks, while Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said it is "significant" that the meeting "took place within hours of the inauguration."

“This underlines the priority it has in the foreign policy of its member states," Jaishankar wrote on his X social media account.