WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday had a viral response for a Japanese reporter who asked why the United States did not give Japan advance warning of Operation Epic Fury.
During Trump’s bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae in the Oval Office, the reporter asked him, “Why didn’t you tell U.S. allies in Europe and Asia, like Japan, about the war before attacking Iran?”
“One thing you don’t want to signal too much. You know, when we go in, we went in very hard. We didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise,” he said. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”
“You believe in surprise, I think much more so than us, and we had to surprise them, and we did,” Trump added. “And because of that surprise… in the first two days, we probably knocked out…much more than what we anticipated doing. If I go and tell everybody about it, there’s no longer a surprise.”
Moments earlier, Trump commended Japan for “stepping up to the plate” on Iran while taking a dig at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries.
WATCH — President Trump Meets with Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi:
“We’ve had tremendous support and relationship with Japan on everything, and I believe that, based on statements that were given to us yesterday, the day before yesterday, having to do with Japan, they are really stepping up to the plate, unlike NATO,” he said.
Takaichi told Trump she believes only he is capable of bringing about peace in the world and said she would contact allies.
“I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world, and to do so, I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to achieve our objective together,” she said.
