Trump’s ‘bizarre’ Pearl Harbour comment has unfortunately left people laughing | indy100

Nathan Howard - Pool/ Getty Images

Donald Trump’ has sparked much reaction on social media talking about the US's relationship with Japan and casually mentioning that Pearl Harbour was “not good" - with people saying his 'comic genius' is completely unintentional.

It comes as the US looks to support the value of the Japanese Yen as it reaches a 40-year low, with the US and Japan launching a coordinated intervention in the foreign exchange market.

Speaking about the move, Trump spoke to reporters on Sunday – and it was his casual reference to the surprise military attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941 which caused the biggest reaction on social media.

Pearl Harbor, of course, was the US naval base subjected to a surprise air attack by Japan in December 1941 during the Second World War. The US later dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. The two countries have been close allies since the end of the war.

Confirming that the US treasury had bought billions of dollars’ worth of Japanese yen, Trump said: “Japan’s been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor... they were not good.”

The comment sparked a big reaction on social media. One user wrote: "We will never see a another statesman like this as long as any of us live."

"His comedic genius is the most devastating part about him," another said.

"Funniest president America has ever had," one more wrote.

"Yikes," another said.

"I must admit, he still has his moments," a user added.

"The man has literally no filter at all," another wrote.

It's not the first time Trump has spoken about Pearl Harbour during his time in office.

The president faced a fresh wave of condemnation after he decided to joke about Pearl Harbor in front of Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi back in March.

The comment was made as the Republican was questioned on his military operation against Iran in the Oval Office, when a Japanese reporter asked why Trump opted not to inform Asian and European allies in advance about the US strikes.

The 79-year-old replied: “You don’t want to signal too much, you know? When we go in, we went in very hard, and we didn’t tell anybody about it, because we wanted surprise.

“Who knows better about surprise than Japan, OK? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbour?”

Why not read…

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help
raise this article through the indy100 rankings.