US President Donald Trump warned nations against challenging the US as he rallied American troops in Japan on the first stop of his 11-day tour of Asia. Speaking to US and Japanese military personnel on Sunday at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, Trump said he would push for freedom in the region and fair trade in meetings with other leaders. He also exuded confidence in the US military as tensions rise with North Korea.

“We dominate the sky, we dominate the sea, we dominate the land and space,” Trump said. “No one — no dictator, no regime and no nation — should underestimate ever American resolve. Every once in a while in the past they underestimated us. It was not pleasant for them, was it.”

Concerns over provocations from North Korea have risen as Kim Jong Un’s regime continues to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in defiance of international sanctions. Trump has threatened military action to stop Pyongyang from obtaining the ability to strike the continental US with a nuclear weapon.

“As long as I am president, the service men and women who defend our nation will have the equipment, the resources and the funding they need to secure our homeland, to respond to our enemies quickly and decisively, and when necessary to fight, to overpower, and to always, always, always win,” he said. After speaking to troops, Trump met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for nine holes of golf, accompanied by Japanese golf sensation Hideki Matsuyama. The two leaders earlier autographed white hats that featured a play on Trump’s campaign slogan, "Make Alliance Even Greater." They are scheduled to have a private dinner on Sunday night ahead of more formal meetings and a joint press briefing on Monday.

Missile Defense

A White House official briefing reporters on Sunday said Trump is committed to helping Japan strengthen its defenses and will discuss ways to do that with Abe. Trump is also interested in boosting cooperation between the US, South Korea and Japan against North Korea in areas such as ballistic missile defense and the use of submarines.

A senior State Department official said on Sunday Trump would press allies like Japan to start adding pressure on other countries to expel North Korean guest workers, a key source of revenue for Kim’s regime. Abe has taken a much harder line on North Korea than South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who Trump will see when he heads to Seoul on Tuesday morning.

But trade imbalances are never far from Trump’s mind, and he intends to bring up the fact that Japan has more than $400 billion in investment in the U.S., growing by about 9 percent a year. Trump, the White House official said, will be looking for two-way investment flows, without offering any details. The White House has not announced any pending business deals with Japan, even as it’s prepared to announce billions in planned deals by US companies in China later in the trip. Despite any friction over trade, Trump, in his remarks on Sunday, called Japan a “treasured partner and crucial ally” of the US He also spoke to troops more broadly about what he hoped to accomplish on his trip through Asia.

“We will seek new opportunities for cooperation and commerce, and we will partner with friends and allies to pursue a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” he said. “We will seek free, fair and reciprocal trade. But this future is only within our grasp because of you.”

During an interview on Thursday with Fox News, Trump said the citizens of Japan “should be worried” by their proximity to North Korea. “I tell everyone else that, listen, you’re going to have yourself a big problem with Japan pretty soon if you allow this to continue with North Korea,” Trump said.

Abe on Sunday called Trump’s visit “historic” and that he welcomed him “from the bottom of my heart.” He said the two would discuss strengthening the alliance and dealing with North Korea. Abe’s party was re-elected in a general election last month after pledging a hard line on North Korea and a push to change Japan’s pacifist constitution written after World War II.