How NOT to win friends and influence the people of Japan

Top headline:  New York Times, 3/19/2026

Middle headline:  New York Times, 3/19/2026

Bottom headline:  Japan Times, 3/20/2026

Jesse Johnson reports the the Japan Times:

Asked by a Japanese reporter why the United States had attacked Iran on Feb. 28 without consulting with allies, Trump appeared to respond with what he thought would be a light-hearted joke. 

“We didn't tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan, OK? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” Trump, who was born on June 14, 1946, appeared to ask the Japanese side. “No, you believe in surprise, I think, much more so than us.” 

Takaichi, whose eyes widened noticeably as she shifted in her seat at the mention of the Dec. 7, 1941, preemptive attack on the key U.S. military base in Hawaii, did not respond to Trump’s remarks, which elicited an audible groan from the throngs of American and Japanese reporters who had crowded into the Oval Office.  [emphasis added]

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