Japanese P.M. Visibly Uncomfortable as Trump Makes Pearl Harbor Joke
On Thursday, President Trump was asked why he didn’t warn Japan before he decided to attack Iran last month. His response, in front of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi: “Who knows better about surprise than Japan?”
“Japan and U.S. are very good friends. But … why didn’t you tell U.S. allies in Europe and Asia like Japan about the war before attacking Iran?” a Japanese reporter asked Trump during his meeting with Takaichi. “We are very confused.”
“Well one thing, we didn’t wanna signal too much, you know? When we go in, we went in very hard, and we didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise,” Trump replied. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor? OK?” Trump said in jest.
Reporter: Why didn’t you inform allies before attacking Iran?
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 19, 2026
Trump: We wanted surprise—who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor? pic.twitter.com/CAvkUBpC4Y
The dark joke got some laughs and one sigh. Takaichi looked visibly tense, and struggled to keep the smile she had previously maintained on her face.
Trump was of course referring to Japan’s 1941 surprise attack on the U.S. Pearl Harbor naval base in Oahu, Hawaii, which killed 2,403 U.S. servicemen and civilians and led to the U.S. entry into World War II. This attack—and U.S. propaganda about it—resulted in a flourishing of anti-Japanese racism at home, including “jap hunts” and the brutal forced internment of about 120,000 Japanese people on the West Coast of the U.S.
The U.S. knows something about surprise too. It ended the war by dropping two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 civilians in one of the most abominable crimes of war in human history. But things might not have been so funny anymore had Takaichi mentioned that.