Trump compares Iran attack to Pearl Harbor in front of Japan's PM
Donald Trump has defended his surprise attack on Iran by comparing it to Pearl Harbor while he sat next to Japan's prime minister.
At an Oval Office press event, Trump was asked by a Japanese reporter why he didn't inform his allies about his war with Iran ahead of time.
"Who knows better about surprise than Japan?" Trump said.
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi with Donald Trump. AP
"Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?
"No, you believe in surprise, I think much more so than us, and we had to surprise them and we did."
Sitting next to him, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shifted in her seat and appeared to wince.
Neither Trump nor Takaichi were alive at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Trump's son Eric posted video of the exchange on X with two laughing emojis.
"One of the great responses to a reporter in history!" Eric Trump wrote.
Trump's reference to Pearl Harbor has been widely reported in Japanese media this morning.
He made the comment as he pressed Japan to "step up" in support for the US's war in Iran.
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US President Donald Trump speaks with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. AP Photo/Alex Brandon
"We have 45,000 soldiers in Japan," Trump said.
"We have, we spend a lot of money on Japan so, and we've had that kind of relationship, so I expect, I'm not surprised, that they would step up."
Takaichi offered vague words of support but stopped short of any concrete commitments.
"Only you … can achieve peace across the world," she said to Trump."
"I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to reach our objectives together."
So far none of America's major allies have committed military support for the US operations in Iran.
Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a military base in Hawaii, marked America's entry into World War II.
The attack would prove to be a sore point between the two countries long after the war ended.
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The USS Shaw explodes in the unexpected Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. AP
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