United States president Donald Trump said on Monday that Japan will be able to shoot North Korean missiles “out of the sky” after buying billions of dollars worth of American military equipment.

Directly linking trade and security issues, Mr Trump was speaking on the second day of his Asia visit following a summit in Tokyo with his ally and new best political friend Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister.

In addition to repeating his mantra that the “era of strategic patience” with North Korea was over, Mr Trump also pressed Japan to lower its trade deficit with the US and purchase more of its sophisticated military hardware.

Referring to North Korean missiles, Mr Trump told reporters: “He (Abe) will shoot them out of the sky when he completes the purchase of lots of additional military equipment from the United States.

“The prime minister is going to be purchasing massive amounts of military equipment, as he should. And we make the best military equipment by far.”

In response, Mr Abe added that his country was currently capable of intercepting missiles from North Korea “if necessary” and confirmed that he was looking into a potential arms deal with his close military ally.