Trump says Japan ‘knows about surprises’ in excruciating Pearl Harbour gaffe
Trump says Japan ‘knows about surprises’ in excruciating Pearl Harbour gaffe
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During a recent meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister, Donald Trump inadvertently sparked a memorable slip-up reminiscent of Pearl Harbor. The US President, seated beside Sanae Takaichi, delivered a statement that drew groans from the press corps in the Oval Office.
The conversation began with a straightforward query about the US’s decision to launch surprise strikes on Iran without prior notification. Trump responded as expected: “Well, one thing, you don’t want to signal too much. You know, when we go in, we went in very hard, and we didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted… surprise.”
“Who knows better about surprise than Japan?” he added, prompting a mix of discomfort and laughter from his Japanese counterpart.
The President then claimed the unannounced attack had “probably knocked out 50% of what we did and much more than we anticipated doing.” This remark, though lighthearted, drew a sharp reaction from the audience.
Historically, Japan’s surprise assault on the US naval base in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, resulted in 2,390 American casualties. The incident led to the US declaring war on Japan the following day, with Franklin D. Roosevelt famously labeling it “a date which will live in infamy.” The conflict lasted four years and ended with Japan’s surrender in August 1945, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Takaichi, who recently secured a decisive electoral win in Japan, has maintained a close rapport with Trump since assuming her role. The US President’s October visit to Tokyo was hailed as a sign of strengthening US-Japan ties, though recent tensions over the war against Iran have tested that relationship.
Trump had previously requested Japan and other nations to support securing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for oil shipments under threat from Iran. His demand for assistance, however, received a cautious response, prompting him to assert that the US “NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”
In a joint statement alongside the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, Japan acknowledged its “shared readiness to contribute appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage” through the strait. Takaichi praised Trump’s leadership, stating: “I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world. I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to achieve our objective together.”
Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu devoted significant time to a news conference to refute claims that Israel compelled the US into the war against Iran. “This canard that we dragged the United States into this is not just a canard, it’s ridiculous,” he declared. He outlined decades of Iranian aggression against America and cited Trump’s earlier assurance: “Bibi, we’ve got to make sure that Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons.”
Netanyahu concluded by thanking Trump for his role in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities, calling it a “debt of deep indebtedness” to the nation.
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