Why Japan’s prime minister might call a snap election
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
US President Donald Trump has not ruled out military action in Iran and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to call a snap general election. Plus, Donald Trump’s “unpredictable” policies have prompted bond giant Pimco to diversify away from US assets, and US banks push back against Trump’s credit card cap plans.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Donald Trump says he has received assurances ‘killing in Iran is stopping’
Japan’s Sanae Takaichi to call snap election
Donald Trump’s ‘unpredictable’ policies to fuel multiyear shift from US, Pimco says
Wall Street hits back at Trump credit card cap plans
Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts
Today’s FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Fiona Symon, Victoria Craig and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s Global Head of Audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. |
| 0:04.0 | Today is Thursday, January 15th, and this is your F-T News briefing. |
| 0:08.7 | U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing how to approach events in Iran, and it looks like Japan's |
| 0:13.7 | Prime Minister is set to call a snap election. |
| 0:16.8 | Plus, President Trump wants to cap credit card interest rates. But banks, they don't really like that idea. |
| 0:24.2 | I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:35.3 | President Trump refused to rule out whether military action in Iran is still under consideration. |
| 0:41.3 | Here he is in the Oval Office yesterday. |
| 0:43.1 | Does this mean military action is now off the table against Iran? |
| 0:47.3 | We're going to watch and see what the process is, but we were given a very good statement by people that are aware of what's going on. |
| 0:57.3 | He said he'd received assurances that Iran had stopped killing protesters. |
| 1:02.5 | People have taken to the streets in outrage for the past two weeks over economic hardship. |
| 1:07.2 | Trump said on Tuesday, quote, help is on the way. |
| 1:10.5 | Yesterday, the U.S. began evacuating some personnel from its largest base in the region in Qatar, |
| 1:16.0 | which hosts 10,000 troops. |
| 1:18.3 | UK officials, meanwhile, said some of its own military personnel have also left the base. |
| 1:23.1 | Despite Trump's more measured tone in the Oval Office later in the day, |
| 1:26.9 | there were concerns that any U.S.-led military action in the Oval Office later in the day, there were concerns that |
| 1:28.0 | any U.S.-led military action in Iran could lead to unrest in the wider region. |
| 1:38.9 | Japan's Prime Minister, Sinai Takhiichi, wants to call a snap general election. |
| 1:44.3 | That's according to her coalition partner, the vote could come as soon as February. |
| 1:49.7 | Speculation around the election has driven Japanese stocks to a series of record highs this week. |
... |
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