Trump makes uncomfortable Pearl Harbor joke in front of Japanese Prime Ministerv
Trump makes uncomfortable Pearl Harbor joke in front of Japanese Prime Minister
Trump was meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi when he made the remarks
Donald Trump left a room in shocked silence after making a joke about the attack on Pearl Harbor in front of the Japanese Prime Minister.
The aftermath of the surprise attack on the US naval base was described as ‘a date that will live in infamy’ by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941.
In a press briefing with Japanese prime minster Sanae Takaichi, Trump went on to make a joke about the attack.
A Japanese journalist asked the US president about why the US didn’t inform its allies about its plans to attack Iran, to which Trump responded by saying that the US ‘went in very hard’ and ‘didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise.’
Things started to become awkward when the US president then said: “Who knows better about surprise than Japan?”
While this comment drew polite laughter from US officials in the meeting, the room was then plunged into silence at Trump’s next remark.
Turning to Sanae, Trump said: “Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?” Have a listen here:v
One person could be heard audibly groaning, before the room was plunged into silence.
Trump then went back to the question, saying: “You believe in surprise much more so than us. He’s asking me about surprise, and we did.”
He added: “And because of that surprise, we knocked out … we probably knocked out 50 percent … and much more than we anticipated doing.
“So if I go and tell everybody about it, there’s no longer a surprise.”
One X user said in their view, Sanae was ‘obviously upset’ by the ‘unnecessary’ comment.
Things took a awkward turn during Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Sanae Takaichi (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Another accused the president of ‘insulting Japan openly’.
The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941 ended with four US battleships sunk and four others seriously damaged after hundreds of Japanese planes swarmed the US naval base.
It was the moment that brought the US fully into World War 2.
Over 2,400 US service personnel and civilians were killed in the attack, and it was the deadliest attack on US soil until the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Seven of the ships were salvaged and returned to service.
The memorial at the USS Arizona (Glowimages/Getty)
However, the USS Arizona was hit by a bomb which penetrated to a magazine containing explosives, instantly killing 1,177 sailors and marines on board in a blast which tore the ship apart.
Many of the bodies of those on board were never recovered from the wreckage, and the wreck of the Arizona was left on the harbor floor, where it is now a war grave.
While Japan has never formally apologized for the surprise attack, the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed ‘sincere and everlasting condolences’ to the US and Japanese people killed in the fighting.
Featured Image Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Topics: News, US News, World News, Japan, Donald Trump
One person could be heard audibly groaning, before the room was plunged into silence.
Trump then went back to the question, saying: “You believe in surprise much more so than us. He’s asking me about surprise, and we did.”
He added: “And because of that surprise, we knocked out … we probably knocked out 50 percent … and much more than we anticipated doing.
“So if I go and tell everybody about it, there’s no longer a surprise.”
One X user said in their view, Sanae was ‘obviously upset’ by the ‘unnecessary’ comment.
Things took a awkward turn during Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Sanae Takaichi (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Another accused the president of ‘insulting Japan openly’.
The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941 ended with four US battleships sunk and four others seriously damaged after hundreds of Japanese planes swarmed the US naval base.
It was the moment that brought the US fully into World War 2.
Over 2,400 US service personnel and civilians were killed in the attack, and it was the deadliest attack on US soil until the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Seven of the ships were salvaged and returned to service.
The memorial at the USS Arizona (Glowimages/Getty)
However, the USS Arizona was hit by a bomb which penetrated to a magazine containing explosives, instantly killing 1,177 sailors and marines on board in a blast which tore the ship apart.
Many of the bodies of those on board were never recovered from the wreckage, and the wreck of the Arizona was left on the harbor floor, where it is now a war grave.
While Japan has never formally apologized for the surprise attack, the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed ‘sincere and everlasting condolences’ to the US and Japanese people killed in the fighting.
Iran has apologized for missile strikes against neighbouring Arab countries, and made a promise about any future attacks as Donald Trump warned them to ‘surrender or die’.
US and Israeli forces have been carrying out strikes against Iran since February 28, after negotiations about the Iranian nuclear program concluded without an agreement.
Now, Trump has warned that he will not make any deal with Iran except ‘unconditional surrender’, while Israel has also started bombing Beirut in Lebanon.
Following the US and Israeli attacks, Iran has responded with missile and drone strikes against Israel, as well as many neighbouring Arab countries.
These have included the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Iraq.
However, Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has now issued an apology to the neighbouring countries that Iran has targeted.
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian shared the message on state TV (Iranian Presidency/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Speaking on Iranian state television, Pezeshkian said: “I deem it necessary to apologise to neighbouring countries that were attacked.”
Pezeshkian went on to say: “We do not intend to invade neighbouring countries,” and issued an appeal to ‘establish peace and calm’.
The Iranian president also said that Iran will not strike a neighbouring country unless an attack against Iran originates there.
He confirmed that an order had been issued to the armed forces, saying: “From now on, do not attack neighbouring countries unless attacked first.”
Nonetheless, Pezeshkian’s apparent conciliatory tone towards Iran’s neighbours stopped short when it came to addressing the US, saying that their call for Iranian surrender ‘is a dream that they should to take to their grave’.
Trump has already made a chilling threat towards Iran, writing on Truth Social: “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
The US president also said that the US would ‘work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before’.
Donald Trump claimed that the message constituted ‘surrender’ (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Pezeshkian also addressed other middle eastern countries about the US, warning: “Those considering exploiting this moment to attack Iran must not become puppets of imperialism.”
Trump has now responded to Pezeshian’s apology, claiming that it is a ‘surrender’.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that Iran ‘has apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore’.
He added: “This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in the attacks, and the country is now in the process of selecting a new Supreme Leader.
Khamenei was only the second Supreme Leader since the Iranian revolution in 1979, after Ruhollah Khomeini.
His successor will likely be the first person in the position not to have had a direct role in the revolution which saw Iran’s Shia Islamist government seize power.
