Trump said to the Japanese press in front of their PM, Sanae Takaichi: "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? OK, why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?"

Disregarding that Trump wasn't even conceived until after the war, and that the Japanese did intend to present a formal declaration of war but that announcement was delayed for a number of problems on the Japanese embassy end — Takaichi's predecessor, Prince Konoe Fumimaro, resigned in 1941 when he could not prevent the war plans from advancing.

Trump saying "You believe in surprise much more than us" is a racist caricature being presented as flattery by someone who doesn't recognize the difference.

Takaichi's pained grimace was seen around the world. "Just doing what pleases Trump and calling it a success if you are not hurt is too sad." wrote former senior Japanese diplomatic negotiator Hitoshi Tanaka. (actual Japansese in next post)

But, Tanaka's disappointment with the meeting ran deep. The next post will be in Japanese so that you need only suffer at most one level of machine translation.

#Japan #USJapan #PearlHarbor #PMTakaichi #Takaichi #Trump #IranWar #Diplomacy #SanaeTakaichi