President Donald Trump met with the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday and made a joke about Pearl Harbor – Japan’s surprise attack that brought the US into World War 2. While discussing the surprise US attack on Iran, he said to Takaichi, “We didn’t tell anyone about it because we wanted a surprise,” adding, “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”
On the Thursday night episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host was quick to pick up on Donald Trump’s question to the Japanese Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi at their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House that day. He first described the weather in Los Angeles that day as warm, but then said that when you come inside, it can be cold, as it was when Trump met the Japanese Prime Minister.
After he shared a clip of the meeting between Trump and Takaichi, Jimmy told the audience, “I guess we should be grateful he didn’t do an accent.” The in-house audience at the show groaned as the clip was aired.
“What is going on through that orange head of his?” Kimmel asked his audience. “Let me tell you, there’s no doubt in my mind that everything he knows about Pearl Harbor begins and ends with a movie starring Ben Affleck.”
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Despite the Pearl Harbor mention, the meeting between Trump and the Japanese Prime Minister went well, with Takaichi noting that Trump’s son, Barron, was celebrating his 20th birthday on Friday. She wished Barron a happy birthday and then attributed his looks to his parents, Donald and Melania Trump.
However, Takaichi also announced that Japan is sending an additional 250 cherry trees to Washington, DC, to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary. These will join the 3,000 cherry trees gifted to the US by Japan in 1912, as a sign of friendship. This statement also caught Jimmy Kimmel’s attention.
Kimmel questioned what Trump would do with the 250 cherry trees, saying, “This is the guy who paved over the Rose Garden. What is he going to do with 250 cherry trees?”
“He’ll probably use them to build a Waffle House or something,” Kimmel added. The host then discussed how Trump was trying to get Japan involved in the war on Iran and said how uncomfortable that must have been.
Meanwhile, as the meeting between Trump and Takaichi closed, the Japanese PM spoke of the relationship between the two countries, saying, “Japan is back.” Trump then responded, calling Takaichi a “great friend and partner” and saying that they have become “very close.”
Japan’s prime minister burst into laughter at the autopen picture for Biden at the White House.
The world knew…
🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/YWkUnN58nJ
— Trumpusa1 (@Trumpusa1A1) March 20, 2026
Meanwhile, besides Kimmel’s look at the story, an X user shared a clip of the Japanese PM viewing the framed photos of the American Presidents on the wall of the Oval Office. The clip was captioned: “Japan’s Prime Minister burst into laughter at the autopen picture for Biden at the White House. The world knew.”
