U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Friday and said the two countries would work to cut Washington's trade deficit with Tokyo amid escalating trade tensions threatening to rupture the global economy.

President Donald Trump announced after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that he plans to "very quickly" eliminate the $100 billion trade deficit with Japan. The U.S. President did not rule out the possibility of imposing tariffs on the country.