U.S. president Donald Trump talks to nipponese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the White House, 19 March 2026. © Screenshot / White home / YouTube
U.S. president Donald Trump joked about the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack in the presence of Japan's clearly embarrassed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi while defending his decision not to inform allies of the attack on Iran.
On Thursday, speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, Trump was pressed against the wall without prior notification to Washington's partners of the mass attacks on Iran that the United States and Israel carried out last month.
This decision disrupted energy markets and led to a serious escalation of tensions in the mediate East.
“We didn’t tell anyone due to the fact that we wanted surprise” – explained the president, after which he turned to Takaichi:
"Who knows better how to surprise than Japan?
Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”
Takaichi remained calm and did not comment on the case, but was seemingly amazed by these remarks.
Trump referred to the 1941 nipponese attack on Pearl Harbor, in which over 2,400 Americans were killed and which led to the U.S. joining planet War II.
Although Japan initially had any success in the Pacific, the war ended with the US dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an unconditional surrender of the country and an American business lasting until 1952.
Trump praised Takaichi, calling her ‘a peculiar woman’, adding that they talked about Japan's support for the US in the war with Iran.
“They truly stand up to the challenge” – he added, without giving details.
Thursday the Wall Street diary reported that "Multiannual allies of America were only informed of the conflict plans a fewer hours before the first attack", adding that it was especially ‘irritant’ for Gulf countries which have suffered retaliatory Iranian attacks.
Trump's comments emerged in the context of a increasing dispute between the US and European NATO members on the Iranian conflict.
Trump warned his European NATO counterparts that the block could face ‘very bad future’, If they do not engage in unlocking the Strait of Ormuz.
European leaders opposed this. German defence minister Boris Pistorius said: “This is not our war”.
Head of EU diplomacy Kaja Kallas noted that associate States “They don’t want to” actively engage in conflict.
Trump replied that NATO “makes a very stupid mistake”, adding that the war with Iran turned out to be ‘great test’ on whether or not the block “ whenever he is ready for us.”
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/635606-trump-pearl-harbor-joke-japan/