Trump likens Pearl Harbor to strikes on Iran during Japanese PM meeting

Invoking one of the most consequential ambushes in modern history, US President Donald Trump defended the war he launched against Tehran by comparing American strikes on Iran to Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor during talks in Washington with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

“We wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” Mr Trump replied when a journalist asked why he had not told allies about his war plans.

“You believe in surprise, I think much more so than us.”

Seated beside Ms Takaichi in the Oval Office as he referenced the episode that propelled the United States into World War II, the Japanese leader’s eyes widened and she shifted in her chair.

The next day, the United States declared war on Japan; President Franklin D. Roosevelt branded the attack “a date which will live in infamy”.

Japan’s defeat followed in August 1945, days after US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians.

In Tokyo, reaction to Mr Trump’s analogy was mixed on the streets.

One Tokyo resident told Reuters Ms Takaichi had been put in “a very difficult situation,” praising her for doing well by “avoiding upsetting Trump”.

“Personally, I took President Trump’s remark as just a joke. But because of her position, if she laughed too much, she’d likely face criticism, so I imagine it was quite hard for her to react.”

Another person said: “Given the historical context of Japan having done that, and with Donald bringing it up as an example, it makes me feel a bit uneasy as a Japanese citizen.”