President Donald Trump on Thursday (March 19, 2026) drew a parallel between U.S. strikes on Iran and Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor decades ago, as he defended the war against Tehran at a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington.
“We wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” Mr. Trump said when a journalist asked why he had not told allies about his war plans.
“You believe in surprise, I think much more so than us.”
Ms. Takaichi’s eyes widened and she shifted in her chair as Mr. Trump, seated beside her in the Oval Office, evoked the moment that drew the U.S. into World War Two.
The Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, killed 2,390 Americans, and the U.S. declared war on Japan the next day.
