“Daniel Russel, a former assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific who’s now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that a continuation of the Trump White House ‘means that Japan is going to be put through the wringer to extract as much money as possible’ in exchange for continuing to host U.S. forces.
“’That is a potentially damaging, if not brutal fight, that lies ahead,’ he said. ‘Trump has made clear again and again that he has contempt for allies like Japan, who he has labeled freeloaders. He’s made clear again and again that he sees the alliance relationship as a mercenary contract and his objective seems to be to renegotiate that contract to turn a profit…'”