Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrived in the United States on Wednesday night. The media was already wondering how this meeting would unfold, given Operation Epic Fury. Will Trump and Takaichi’s friendship be tested? The media did what they do best here: spread conjecture and speculation, similar to sports outlets before the NFL draft. And after all that, Takaichi declared that only President Donald J. Trump could bring peace to the world. It’s truly amazing what happens when you have a president who isn’t mentally damaged like Joe Biden.
Jeff covered this yesterday, but the quip about Pearl Harbor was epic when the press asked why the White House kept America’s key allies in the dark on the Iran strikes (via CBS News) [emphasis mine]:
President Trump brought up Pearl Harbor while seated next to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the Oval Office on Thursday, as he explained why the U.S. didn't give allies like Japan a heads-up before striking Iran.
A Japanese reporter asked Mr. Trump why the U.S. didn't alert allies like Japan ahead of the Iran strikes, a decision that the reporter said "confused" the Japanese. The president, in his response, said his administration "didn't tell anyone" about the Feb. 28 military action in advance.
"Well one thing, you don't want to signal too much, you know?" Mr. Trump said. "When we go in, we went in very hard. And we didn't tell anyone about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? OK? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor? OK? Right?"
"We had to surprise them, and we did," the president said of Iran. "... If I go and tell everybody about it, there's no longer a surprise."
It’s hilarious, and it’s not the first time Trump has made that joke. In 2018, he referenced Pearl Harbor with the late Shinzo Abe, though their meeting was reportedly a bit more contentious. Abe was reportedly blindsided by the remarks, though that did not impact their friendship (via WaPo):
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During a tense meeting at the White House in June, President Trump caught Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe off guard with a pointed remark.
“I remember Pearl Harbor,” the president said, referring to the surprise attack that propelled the United States into World War II.
Trump then launched into a blistering critique of Japan’s economic policies, according to people familiar with the conversation. He railed against the U.S. trade deficit with Japan and urged Abe to negotiate a bilateral trade deal that is more favorable to U.S. exporters of beef and automobiles.
[…]
The two men have a tight rapport — Trump has met with Abe eight times, more than with any other counterpart, and talked to him on the phone 26 times. White House aides say they joke about golf, with Trump complimenting Abe on his agile moves while ribbing him about video footage that appears to show him falling into a sand bunker. Trump sees Abe as a savvy negotiator and a worthy counterpart — unlike many other world leaders who draw his derision. He calls Abe his “good friend.”
“I’ve never heard him [trash]-talk Abe. And you can’t say that about a lot of the world leaders,” said a U.S. official, who, like other White House, State Department and Japanese government officials interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a crucial bilateral relationship.
And then, of course, there are people who can’t take a joke. Also, this isn’t going to damage Japan-US relations. It didn’t back then, and it won’t now. I’m second-hand embarrassed by this reaction, which, of course, comes from CNN:
The last, serious journalist in Washington, ladies and gentlemen. https://t.co/wAbgCMvDkC
— L A R R Y (@LarryOConnor) March 19, 2026
BREAKING: "We didn't tell anybody about [Iran] because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?" - President Trump pic.twitter.com/qSiiNhTqoM
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 19, 2026
Trump was also not alive yet on Pearl Harbor Day, Jake. This was a joke about the importance of keeping surprises in war. As everyone with a functional brain recognized. https://t.co/NCwVAadltg
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 19, 2026
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