Trump’s Pearl Harbor Joke

A painful memory, and a symbol of aggression for Japan.
Unexpectedly aggressive comment opens old wounds during talks with Takaichi.
Comparing air strikes on Iran to the attack on Pearl Harbor is unacceptable.
Is it right to ask allies to join a war?

Even at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, oil was a key factor. At the beginning of World War II, the United States maintained a position of neutrality and did not intervene in the war. Instead, the United States supplied the Allied powers with weapons and equipment. While countries such as England, France and the Netherlands were preoccupied on Europe's front lines, Japan invaded their Southeast Asian colonies. In response, the United States banned all oil exports to Japan. This was a huge financial and military blow for Japan, which depended on the United States for 80% of its oil imports.

Japan attempted to negotiate with the United States to avoid a war, but after talks failed, Japan opted for a surprise attack. On Dec. 7, 1941, the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii faced an onslaught of bombs. To maximize the ambush’s effects, Japan had planned to declare war 30 minutes before the air strike. However, the Japanese ambassador to the United States faced delays when creating the necessary paperwork, and as a result, the news was delivered roughly an hour after the attack had started. Japan’s strike resulted in the destruction of 21 U.S. warships, 188 fighter planes and over 2,000 deaths. The following day, then U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his “Day of Infamy” speech at a congressional session and fervently led the United States into war.

“We didn’t tell anybody because we wanted it to be a surprise. Who knows better about a surprise attack than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”

These remarks were made by U.S. President Donald Trump on March 19 at the White House during a news conference with Japan’s prime minister. Prior to the meeting, Trump had been requesting the dispatch of warships to the Strait of Hormuz, and attempting to lure allies like Japan into the war. When asked, “Why didn’t you tell U.S. allies ... about the war attacking Iran?” Trump responded with this joke.

Likely interpreting the question as a rebuke, Trump responded facetiously, and his second son, Eric Trump, praised him on social media, tweeting “One of the greatest responses to a reporter in history!” However, in many ways, the comment was inappropriate.

First, at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States and Japan were not allies. Today, however, they are core allies in the Pacific. As The New York Times pointed out, U.S. presidents have typically avoided discussing the Pearl Harbor attack, instead focusing on strengthening relations with Japan. In 2016, leaders of the two nations visited Pearl Harbor and even delivered messages of reconciliation and condolence. However, by watching Trump joke about Pearl Harbor, broadcast on television, the world would have once again reconfirmed Trump’s view of alliances. Is a U.S. president that hits allies with tariff increases, pressures them to spend more on defense, assaults them verbally, and now demands them to join a war, really a trustworthy partner?

Come to think of it, Trump also made similar comments last year after striking Iran’s underground nuclear facility. “When you look at Hiroshima, if you look at Nagasaki, that ended a war, too. This ended a war in a different way."

Comparing military operations concerning Iran in the same vein as the Pearl Harbor attack is also questionable. Does this mean that the bombing of Pearl Harbor was an effective operation and not a reckless, underhanded ambush? Or does it mean that the United States’ air raid on Iran during nuclear talks was as unjustifiable as Japan’s attack 85 years ago?

Moreover, the result of Pearl Harbor was not the start of negotiations or the end of the war, but rather the start of even greater conflict. In our current situation, in which it is possible that the war with Iran becomes prolonged or even leads to ground warfare, and in which we fear potential shocks to the global oil supply, such a comparison is hardly appropriate.

Trump’s joke has also prompted me to reflect on the war with Iran itself. The elimination of Iran’s key leadership means that there is no counterpart left for negotiation. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has assumed the status of a martyr, and Iran’s momentum for internal change has been shrouded by animosity toward the United States and Israel. Because the United States emphasizes the logic of power, attempts to criticize nations such as Russia and China for using force to change the status quo have weakened in credibility. As assets of United States Forces Korea are deployed to the Middle East, concern is growing that South Korea could be ill-prepared when faced with threats from North Korea. Above all, this might send the wrong message to North Korean leaders, including Kim Jong Un, to focus even more on their nuclear capabilities.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who hastily scheduled a visit to the United States before the U.S.–China summit and ended up facing Trump at an unfortunate moment in time, managed to avoid Trump’s pressure to send troops to the Strait of Hormuz. She did this by citing “legal constraints” created by the U.S. military’s General Headquarters as a result of the Pearl Harbor attack that culminated in World War II. This could have served as an opportunity for Takaichi to rethink her longstanding support for constitutional revision.