Trump joked about Pearl Harbor during meeting with Japanese Prime Minister
Kyiv • UNN
The US President joked about the attack on Pearl Harbor during a conversation with Sanae Takaichi. Trump asked the Japanese side about the reasons for the lack of warning.
US President Donald Trump tried to joke about Pearl Harbor during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, UNN reports with reference to Sky News.
Details
Trump joked about Pearl Harbor – an attack carried out by the Japanese Empire on the US Pacific Fleet in Hawaii during World War II, which killed more than 2,400 Americans.
The American leader made the remark after being asked why the US had not informed allies in Europe and Asia before striking Iran. The US President told reporters: "We wanted a surprise. Who knows more about surprises than Japan?"
"Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?" Trump said, turning to Takaichi.
Context
The attack on Pearl Harbor, or the Hawaiian Naval Operation, was a sudden combined attack by Japanese carrier-based aircraft of Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo's carrier strike group and Japanese midget submarines, which were delivered to the attack site by submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy, on American naval and air bases located in the vicinity of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
The attack was carried out early in the morning of December 7, 1941, local time, and marked the beginning of the war in the Pacific between Japan and the United States. The purpose of the attack on Pearl Harbor was to neutralize the US Pacific Fleet to ensure freedom of action for the Japanese army and navy in Southeast Asia.