U.S. President Donald Trump responded sharply to a question from a Japanese reporter during a meeting with Sanae Takaichi in the Oval Office, addressing concerns over why U.S. allies were not informed ahead of strikes on Iran.

Japanese reporter: “Japan and the United States are close allies, but why were partners in Europe and Asia, including Japan, not informed in advance about the attack on Iran? Many Japanese citizens are confused.”

Donald Trump: “You don’t want to signal too much in advance. When we went in, we went in very strongly and we didn’t tell anyone because we wanted surprise. And who understands surprise attacks better than Japan, right?”

Trump went on to make a sarcastic comparison referencing the attack on Pearl Harbor:
“Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor beforehand? You know about that, right? You’re asking about belief in surprise attacks I think you believe in it more than we do.”