President Donald Trump has drawn criticism after comparing US strikes on Iran to Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor during a meeting with Japan’s prime minister.
Trump made the comments in the Oval Office while meeting Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, saying the US had wanted to “surprise” Iran.
“You believe in surprise, I think much more so than us,” the US president said.
Takaichi appeared visibly uncomfortable during the exchange, shifting in her seat as Trump invoked the attack that brought the US into World War II.
Japan’s 1941 attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii killed 2,390 Americans and prompted Washington to declare war the next day.
The US later defeated Japan in 1945 following atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians.
In Tokyo, reactions to Trump’s remarks have been mixed.
Engineer Yuta Nakamura told the Reuters news agency that Takaichi was put in “a very difficult situation” but handled it well by avoiding upsetting Trump, adding he personally saw the comment as a joke.
“Personally, I took President Trump’s remark as just a joke. But because of her position, if she laughed too much, she’d likely face criticism, so I imagine it was quite hard for her to react.”
Retiree Tokio Washino said he was less relaxed about the comment.
“Given the historical context of Japan having done that, and with Donald bringing it up as an example, it makes me feel a bit uneasy as a Japanese citizen,” Washino told Reuters.
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