In recent days, there have been unsubstantiated reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with the Japan-U.S. alliance to those close to him. The story first came out of Bloomberg News and then was repeated widely by Japanese media outlets.
It is not clear if the story is true. White House officials and the U.S. State Department have denied it, as has Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, although it is not certain how he would know.
However, Trump subsequently openly expressed his frustration in an interview on Fox Business Television as he was leaving for the Group of 20 summit in Japan that "if Japan is attacked, we will fight World War III. We will go in and protect them with our lives. But if we are attacked, Japan doesn't have to help us at all. They can watch on a Sony television the attack."