Trump compares Pearl Harbor to strikes on Iran in meeting Japan's leader

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 19, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump drew a parallel on Thursday between ⁠U.S. strikes on Iran and Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, ‌as he defended the war he launched against Tehran while meeting Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington.

"We wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about ​Pearl Harbor?" Trump replied when a journalist asked why ⁠he had not told allies ⁠about his war plans.