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  "path": "/2026/03/19/trump-says-japan-knows-surprises-excruciating-pearl-harbour-gaffe-27540326/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-19T18:34:39.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "US",
    "Donald Trump",
    "Iran war",
    "Japan",
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    "Iran",
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  "textContent": "To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\nDonald Trump made a Pearl Harbour gag so awkward that it triggered painful groans from Oval Office reporters.\n\nThe US President was sat down next to the Japanese Prime Minster, no less, when he decided to joke about the Second World War.\n\n‘Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbour?’ he asked a Japanese reporter, despite having been born five years after the attack on the Hawaiian naval base.\n\nIt all started with an innocent question to Trump about why the US did not warn its allies before they launched their first wave of strikes against Iran last month.\n\nThe press pack in the Oval Office shuddered at the excruciating gaffe (Picture: EPA)\n\nThe President began as you would expect: ‘Well, one thing, you don’t want to 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.’\n\nThat last word appeared to spark an idea for a joke in Trump’s head as his counterpart Sanae Takaichi squirmed in her seat.\n\nHe asked ‘Who knows better about surprise than Japan?’, which got some awkward chuckles from behind the camera.\n\nUnfortunately Trump continued: ‘Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?’\n\nCue shocked noises from the press pack. Ms Takaichi’s face was a picture.\n\nThe President added: ‘You believe in surprise I think much more so than us.\n\n‘And we had a surprise.. and because of that surprise we probably knocked out 50% of what we did and much more than we anticipated doing.’\n\nThe surprise Japanese attack on US warships in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941 killed 2,390 Americans.\n\nThe Pearl Harbour attack killed more than 2000 Americans (Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)\n\nThe US declared war on Japan the next day, with the then President Franklin D. Roosevelt calling it ‘a date which will live in infamy.’\n\nIt led to a brutal four-year war across Asia, which ended in Japanese surrender in August 1945, after the US unleashed two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.\n\nMs Takaichi, who has just won a resounding election victory at home, has enjoyed a close relationship with Trump since entering office.\n\nThe US President’s visit to Japan last October was widely seen as heralding in a new ‘golden age’ in bilateral ties.\n\nThe relationship has appeared more tense since the start of the US and Israeli war against Iran.\n\nTrump demanded Japan and other countries help secure the vital Strait of Hormuz to protect oil shipments being fired upon by Iran.\n\nThat request received a lukewarm response, leading the President to post that the US did ‘NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!’\n\nTrump and Ms Takaichi have formed a close partnership (Picture: Alex Wong/Getty Images)\n\nIn a joint statement along with the UK, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands published today, Japan expressed its shared ‘readiness to contribute appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage’ through the strait.\n\nPouring more praise on Trump in the Oval Office, Ms Takaichi said: ‘I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world.\n\nThe tail fin of a large missile protrudes from a field, following barrages of missiles from Iran towards Israel (Picture: REUTERS)\n\n‘I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to achieve our objective together.’\n\nIt has emerged that at least 16 US military aircraft have been destroyed since the start of the war with Iran, including 10 Reaper strike drones hit by enemy fire.\n\nBut the hardest losses so far have been accidents after three US F-15s were shot down by a ‘friendly’ Kuwait pilot. A KC-135 tanker was also destroyed during a refueling operation accident, killing all six crew on board.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Trump says Japan ‘knows about surprises’ in excruciating Pearl Harbour gaffe"
}