Donald Trump’s recent meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi flagged scrutiny over one fateful comment. At the distinguished meeting in the White House, reporters asked the U.S. president why he had not consulted America’s allies in Europe and Asia before launching the controversial strikes on Iran. In response, Trump used unusual rhetoric and compared the situation to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
With Japan’s prime minister sitting beside him, Trump said,
“The one thing you don’t want is to signal too much. When we went in, we went in very hard, and we didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted to surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK? You believe in surprise, I think much more so than us, and we had to surprise them, and we did.”
As soon as Trump finished his sentence, there was an evident uproar of laughter among attendees.
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While it appeared to be an attempt to mask awkwardness, it was the startled expression of Sanae Takaichi that stood out. She appeared to raise her eyebrows slightly in astonishment before concealing it with a fading smile. A Foreign Pool report analyzed her uncomfortable shift as she leaned back in her chair and drew her hands in the moment Pearl Harbor was mentioned.
However, Trump did not stop there. While he did not address the out-of-context reference to Pearl Harbor, Takaichi also did not respond publicly to its mention.
Highlighting the outcome, he said,
“Because of that surprise, we knocked out — the first two days we probably knocked out 50% of what we — and much more than we anticipated doing. So, if I go and tell everybody about it, there’s no longer a surprise, right?”
Ever since, Trump’s statement has gone viral across social media. Besides political leaders from across the globe, several netizens have also criticized the reference to one of the most significant events in world history. It also led to speculation that the remark could strain relations between Japan and the U.S.
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A social media user on Instagram commented, “Her body language said it all. It’s humiliating to mention a painful attack in a diplomatic meeting!” Someone else wrote, “You can feel the air get sucked out of the room after that joke.” A third penned, “Distasteful & inappropriate to say in front of her. Disgraceful! Embarrassing! Imagine the outrage if a foreign leader joked about 9/11 in front of the president of the United States during a visit. We’d be furious.”
For the unversed, Sanae Takaichi’s visit to the United States follows Trump’s continued push for Japan to send its military troops in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. After a detailed meeting at the Oval Office, the Japanese prime minister did not commit to sending Japanese troops. On the contrary, Takaichi leaned into the positive remarks from Trump during the meeting.
On the contrary, Takaichi leaned in on the warming compliments received from Trump during the course of the meeting. She announced that Japan opposed Iran’s nuclear program development and stood beside the U.S. on those grounds. She then appealed to Trump to maintain his image as a global peacemaker, even though it had been the U.S. that initiated the strikes against Iran.
Deflecting from giving any concrete nod to the American requirements, she stated, “I am very confident that Donald and I are the best buddies to realize this shared goal. Even against that backdrop, I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world. Japan is back.”
