Trump mocks Japan about Pearl Harbor in response to question about Iran war

Hosting Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, in the Oval Office, Donald Trump was asked by a Japanese reporter why he had not told allies such as Japan before attacking Iran. He replied that when they “went in very hard” they did not tell anyone because they wanted surprise, adding: “Who knows better about surprise than Japan?” There was laughter, but it faded after Trump asked, “Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” Takaichi’s eyes widened and she shifted in her chair as the president evoked the 7 December 1941 attack that killed 2,390 Americans and prompted the US to declare war the next day.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt called it “a date which will live in infamy.” The US defeated Japan in August 1945, days after atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. Supporters relished the off-the-cuff remark; Eric Trump posted on X: “One of the great responses to a reporter in history!” Critics were less amused.

Mehdi Hasan wrote: “I’m sorry, but this is legit hilarious.

United States

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