Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi insisted that she and Donald Trump were “best buddies,” hours after the president made a poor taste joke about the historic attack on Pearl Harbor.
“A stronger Japan and a stronger America, a more prosperous Japan and a more prosperous America. I am very confident that Donald and I are the best buddies to realize this shared goal,” Takaichi said Thursday evening, speaking via a translator before a dinner event at the White House.
The prime minister went on to praise Trump further and even wish his youngest son, Barron Trump, a preemptive “happy birthday” ahead of his 20th birthday on Friday.
It appeared that the awkwardness of the earlier exchange had disappeared.
While answering questions from reporters in the Oval Office, the president was asked by a Japanese reporter why he had not warned U.S. allies, including Japan, about the Iran airstrike campaign, which began on February 28.
Trump replied that he had wanted the strikes to be a “surprise,” before adding, “Who knows better about surprise than Japan?” – in reference to the devastating attack on December 7, 1941, in which Japanese troops bombed the U.S. military base on Oahu, in Hawaii.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?” he said, at which point the scattered laughter died down and the room went silent. Takaichi’s facial expression went from smiling to wide-eyed.
Social media users blasted the exchange, with one writing: “Audible groans in the room.”
“The way the Prime Minister of Japan looks like a hostage scanning the room for an exit to escape from this madman,” wrote another, with a third adding that Takaichi’s “soul has left her body.”
“Oh my lord she is mortified,” wrote one user, with a Japanese social media handle adding: “To put it mildly, I think our country is being mocked, looked down upon, and made a fool of.”
The surprise Pearl Harbor airstrike against the U.S. Pacific Fleet left more than 2,400 American service members dead and nearly 1,200 injured from bombs and shells that sank four American battleships and left four more severely damaged.
It was the deadliest attack on American soil until the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Takaichi is fresh off a dominant victory in the Japanese elections last month and vowed, before her departure to the U.S., to "do everything to maximize [Japan's] national interest” even as the volatile situation in the Middle East continues to escalate.
In a joint statement shared Thursday by the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, Japan conveyed its "readiness to contribute appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage" through the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed off by Iran as a result of the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign.
At Thursday’s Oval Office meeting, Takaichi said the closing of the Strait had resulted in a "very severe security environment," which was a "huge hit" to the global economy. However, she backed Trump’s ability to resolve it.
"I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world," she said. "I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to achieve our objective together."
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