VIDEO Trump jokes about the Pearl Harbor attack, with the head of the Japanese government by his side
American President Donald Trump on Thursday drew a parallel between the American strikes in Iran and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, in the context in which he defended the war against Tehran at a meeting with the head of the Japanese government Sanae Takaichi in Washington, reports Reuters, taken by Agerpres.
“I wanted a surprise. Who knows more about surprises than Japan? Why didn't you tell me anything about Pearl Harbor?” Trump said when a journalist asked him why he didn't tell his allies about his war intentions.
“You believe in surprise, I think even more than we do,” he added.
Q: “Why didn't you tell US allies…about the war before attacking Iran?”
President Trump: “We wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” pic.twitter.com/esV9iyvMiV
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 19, 2026
The head of the Japanese government changed her position in the chair while Trump, who was sitting next to her in the Oval Office, evoked the moment that drew the US into the Second World War, reports Reuters.
AFP notes that Sanae Takaichi was visibly “uncomfortable” and appeared to sob slightly when she heard Trump's comment.
The Japanese attack on the Japanese naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, resulted in the deaths of 2,390 Americans and the US declared war on Japan the next day.
