President Trump referenced the attack on Pearl Harbor during a meeting Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, explaining why the war on Iran had to be a “surprise” to the rest of the world.
Mr. Trump told a Japanese reporter that he did not want to “signal too much” about the attacks before the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28.
“We didn’t tell anyone about it because we wanted a surprise,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor? Right?”
Mr. Trump referenced the surprise aerial attack by Japan on the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, during a relatively cordial meeting with Ms. Takaichi about Iran and other topics.
The attack on Pearl Harbor prompted the U.S. to declare war on Japan, pulling it into World War II.
The prime minister sat quietly, while officials on the American side chuckled a bit.
Mr. Trump is hosting Ms. Takaichi for multiple meetings at the White House and a formal dinner in the evening.
The administration negotiated a trade deal with Japan last year, and it is urging Japan to step up in helping efforts to break Iran’s logjam of the Strait of Hormuz.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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