Washington, D.C
Japan donates 250 cherry trees, fireworks for Trump’s DC refresh after PM watches World Series with prez
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will donate 250 flowering cherry trees and July 4th fireworks to Washington, DC, after she and President Trump tuned into the World Series game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Takaichi, who became Japan’s first female prime minister seven days ago, emphasized the nations’ common love of baseball and her country’s historic gift of cherry trees to DC as the leaders began their official dialogue Tuesday, which is expected to focus behind closed doors on military and trade policies.
“To the press corps, I’m very sorry that we kept you waiting. As a matter of fact, Mr. President and I just enjoyed watching the Major League Baseball match,” Takaichi opened her official greeting.
“Actually, Dodgers versus Blue Jays, and the Dodgers are now having a one-point lead, and we really enjoyed the match.”
Takaichi, a conservative protégé of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said that the cherry trees would be gifted in recognition of the United States’ 250th anniversary next year and would bolster a new “golden age” of US-Japan relations.
“To have a magnificent celebration, we will extend a gift of 250 cherry trees to Washington, DC. In addition, I understand that fireworks from Japan, from Akita Prefecture, will be shown in Washington, DC, on July 4 next year,” she said.
Japan in 1912 gifted over 3,000 cherry trees during President Howard Taft’s tenure — a fact celebrated every spring at Washington’s heavily attended Cherry Blossom Festival.
Trump is in the midst of a dramatic refresh of the capital city, including the addition of a massive White House ballroom and the planning of a possible 250th anniversary triumphal arch across from the Lincoln Memorial.
“We’ve received your orders for a very large amount of new military equipment. And you know that we make the best military equipment in the world,” said Trump, who will deliver a speech later in the day aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier near the mouth of Tokyo Bay.
“We appreciate that order, and we very much appreciate the trade. We’re going to do tremendous trade together, I think, more than ever before. We’re just signing a new deal, and it’s a very fair deal.”
Trump in July reached a new trade pact with Japan, lowering his threatened 25% “reciprocal” tariff to 15% in exchange for pledges of $550 billion in Japanese investments in the US, in addition to Tokyo reducing barriers to imports of US vehicles and agricultural products.
Japanese cars also face a 15% tariff under that deal, lower than the 25% rate Trump applied to most other countries.
The White House has not teased any looming reforms to the Japan trade deal this week — and the two leaders signed a brief document reaffirming the “GREAT DEAL” reached in July.
Takaichi and Trump also signed a document pledging to cooperate to boost investments and develop policies to secure rare-earth and critical minerals against “non-market policies and unfair trade practices” from China — after Trump recently signed similar documents with Australia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Trump’s three-nation tour of the region is focused heavily on making economic deals.
During his first stop in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, he signed agreements to lower tariffs on certain goods from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in exchange for pledges of billions of dollars in purchases of US airplanes, natural gas and agricultural goods such as soybeans and corn.
Trump will return to the US after visiting South Korea on Wednesday and Thursday, where he hopes to announce a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping that will address Beijing’s new export restrictions on products made with rare-earth and critical minerals, as well as Chinese fentanyl smuggling and steps to revive soybean purchases.
Washington, D.C
New AAPI-led Jaemi Theatre Company launches in DC
Jaemi Theatre Company, a new AAPI-led theater company based in Washington, DC, officially launches this spring with its inaugural project, BAAL, a staged reading at the 2026 Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival on Friday, March 6, at 7:30 PM at the Atlas Performing Arts Center.
Founded by Artistic Director Youri Kim and Artistic Associate Juyoung Koh, Jaemi Theatre was born out of a recognition that DC, one of the largest theater markets in the United States, had no company dedicated to centering Asian stories or led by Asian artists. The name “Jaemi” comes from a Korean word meaning “fun,” and in its Sino-Korean form, 在美, means both “to live in America” and “to live in beauty.”
“I kept hearing from companies that it was hard to find Asian actors, and I heard it so often that I started to believe it myself,” said Youri Kim. “But through building community with other AAPI theater artists in the area, I realized the talent was always here. What was missing was the infrastructure to connect us. Jaemi is that infrastructure.”

BAAL, an original work written by Youri Kim (not to be confused with Bertolt Brecht’s 1918 play of the same name), is a body horror drama set in a dystopian city where the air is toxic and birth is outlawed. In the city of Baal, citizens are forced into an impossible choice: terminate or sacrifice a family member. The play uses the language of biological mutation and bodily control to examine how systems of power decide who gets to exist and on what terms, questions that resonate deeply within AAPI and immigrant communities navigating structures that seek to define, contain, and assimilate them. The staged reading features a cast of seven and an original sound design.
BAAL plays as a staged reading Friday, March 6, 2026, at 7:30 PM in Lab Theatre II at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St NE, Washington, DC). Tickets ($29.75) are available online.
Looking ahead, Jaemi Theatre plans to host a founding party and fundraiser this fall, and will launch an Asian Writer Play Submission program in the second half of 2026. The program will pair playwrights from selected Asian countries with Asian playwrights based in DC for a workshop development process, building a pipeline that connects diasporic voices across borders.
For more information, visit yourikimdirector.com or follow @jaemitheatre on Instagram.
About Jaemi Theatre Company
Jaemi Theatre is a newly formed AAPI-led performance initiative based in Washington, DC, co-founded by Artistic Director Youri Kim and Artistic Associate Juyoung Koh. “Jaemi” is Korean for “fun” and, in its Sino-Korean form, means “to live in America” and “to live in beauty.” The company creates interdisciplinary performance rooted in diasporic imagination and radical storytelling. Jaemi is a home for the unfinished and the unassimilated, where performance holds contradiction without needing to resolve it.
Washington, D.C
San Francisco Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center
Sunday, March 1, 2026 6:36AM
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The San Francisco Ballet board has voted to cancel its upcoming performances at the Kennedy Center.
The company is scheduled for a four-day run in Washington D.C. in May.
Petition urges SF Ballet to cancel Kennedy Center tour stop as company opens 2026 season
Last year, Pres. Donald Trump overhauled the Kennedy Center’s board, including naming himself the chairman.
That led several artists to cancel scheduled performances.
A statement from SF Ballet says the group “looks forward to performing for Washington, D.C. audiences in the future.”
Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Washington, D.C
97-year-old World War II veteran honored virtually at home
At 97, Veteran Harley Wero wasn’t up for a trip to the nation’s capital, so volunteers from the Western North Dakota honor flight brought the trip to him. Wero, his wife Muriel and their daughter Jennifer got to experience Washington, DC, without ever leaving their home.
Web Editor : Sydney Ross
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