No serious person believes that Japan is telling the truth here. But, of course, NR is not serious.
Japanese Negotiators: We Can't Reach a Deal Because Trump's Negotiators Disagree Among Themselves | National Review
| Claim | Result | Source Reference | Source Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese negotiators said they can't reach a deal because Trump's negotiators disagree among themselves. | rejected | https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-had-test-case-trade-105010697.html | It is not clear which issues remain as stumbling blocks—it could be the U.S.’s demands for access to Japan’s agricultural markets, [Japanese yen] revaluation, higher military spending in Japan, or purchases of U.S. LNG [liquefied natural gas], etc.” |
| Japanese negotiators said they can't reach a deal because Trump's negotiators disagree among themselves. | verified | https://petapixel.com/2025/04/21/japan-cant-get-an-answer-on-what-the-us-wants-from-a-trade-deal-report/ | Japanese negotiators are complaining that the problem with the trade negotiations with the White House, what's delaying concrete progress and a real deal, is the US keeps changing its ask in terms of exactly what it wants, said one financial CEO who speaks regularly to country officials. |
| Japanese negotiators said they can't reach a deal because Trump's negotiators disagree among themselves. | inconclusive | https://fortune.com/article/trump-test-case-trade-negotiations-japan-failing-reach-deal-analysts/ | |
| No serious person believes that Japan is telling the truth here. | rejected | https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2011/11/01/issues/the-costly-fallout-of-tatemae-and-japans-culture-of-deceit/ | There is an axiom in Japanese: uso mo hōben — "lying is also a means to an end." It sums up the general attitude in Japan of tolerance of — even justification for — not telling the truth. |
| No serious person believes that Japan is telling the truth here. | rejected | https://www.tsunagujapan.com/behind-the-stereotype-what-is-japan-really-like/ | This means that even behavior based on wrong information or information that lacks credibility can be considered correct if many people adopt such behavior. Though it may take some time, the truth will eventually become known and will usually override the wrong information. Still, many Japanese who are raised under the notion of group behavior being the correct behavior often believe that those in the majority are right and those in the minority are incorrect. |
| No serious person believes that Japan is telling the truth here. | rejected | https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3713926/ | No serious person believes that Japan is telling the truth here. |
| NR (National Review) is not serious. | rejected | https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2021/02/standing-athwart-pulling-plug-national-review-david-deavel.html | ‘National Review’ seems collectively incapable of seeing that it is no longer standing athwart history but is instead mostly athwart rank-and-file conservatives. NR is more liberal echo than conservative choice these days, and I don’t see any sign of recovery. |
| NR (National Review) is not serious. | rejected | https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/national-review/ | Overall, we rate the National Review Right Biased based on story selection that always favors the right and Mostly Factual in reporting due to a few misleading claims and occasional use of poor sources, and one failed fact check. |
| NR (National Review) is not serious. | rejected | https://www.biasly.com/blog/is-the-national-review-biased/ | Though a popular digital and print newspaper with a reputation for delivering high-quality conservative journalism, The National Review’s alleged bias requires further exploration. |
🤖 Conclusion [15/100]: The statement contains three parts: (1) Japanese negotiators cannot reach a deal because Trump's negotiators disagree among themselves, (2) No serious person believes that Japan is telling the truth, and (3) National Review (NR) is not serious. Evidence for the first part is mixed: one source rejects it, one verifies (with a quote indicating US negotiating confusion), and one inconclusive. The weight of available evidence leans slightly toward supporting that Japanese negotiators expressed frustration with mixed signals from the US, but it's not universally corroborated.
The second part, about no one believing Japan, is rejected by all sources—none support a universal skepticism toward Japanese truthfulness in these negotiations, and some sources discuss cultural attitudes to truthfulness in more nuanced ways. The third part—that National Review is not serious—is also rejected by all sources; while criticisms of NR exist regarding ideological bias, these do not amount to a consensus that it is 'not serious.'
Given this, the statement exaggerates and generalizes in unsupported ways, especially in parts 2 and 3. The first part has some basis but is not robustly confirmed. Overall, the statement is mostly untrue, so a score of 15/100 is appropriate.