President Donald Trump was asked about ‘not informing’ allies about the strikes in Iran on Thursday, and he decided to respond with an awkward Pearl Harbor joke. This comes as the 79-year-old was holding a joint-press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Oval Office.
What did Trump say?
Trump was answering press questions after a bilateral meeting with Japanese PM Takaichi when a Japanese reported asked why he did not inform American allies, including Japan, about the war agains Iran on February 28.
The president said that the US ‘went in very hard’, and ‘“didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise’.
However, an awkward moment followed. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan?” Trump suddenly asked.
The 79-year-old then turned to Sanae to ask her: “Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, ok?” The room went silent.
Trump then told reporters ‘he’s asking me about surprise, and we did’.
“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,” he added.
What happened in Pearl Harbor?
The attack on Pearl Harbor took place on December 7, 1941, when the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service launched a surprise military strike against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
At approximately 7:48 AM local time, the first wave of 183 Japanese aircraft—including fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes, struck the base. A second wave of 171 planes followed about an hour later. The attack lasted less than two hours.
Total US casualties: 2,403 killed (including 68 civilians) and 1,178 wounded. Japanese losses: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines destroyed, 64 personnel killed, and one captured.
Latest on US-Iran war
Meanwhile, Trump suggested he was not looking at deploying more soldiers to the Middle East amid the Iran war.
“I’m not putting troops anywhere,” Trump said, asked by a reporter whether he was planning to send more service members to the region. “If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you. But I’m not putting troops. We will do whatever is necessary to keep the price.”
