During a press session on Air Force One, Donald Trump was asked about the US buying yen to strengthen Japan’s currency. He replied: ‘We have a good relationship with Japan. We’re very strong – very, very strong financially, and they have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help. ‘We’re always there for Japan. Japan’s been very good for us – with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbour. They were not good.’
The President continued to answer questions from journalists with a subtle smile on his face. The quip came less than five months after he made a similar joke about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour while sitting beside Japan’s PM Sanae Takaichi in the Oval Office.
More than 2,400 US soldiers and civilians were killed when Japan launched a surprise attack on the base on December 7, 1941. The following day, the US declared war on Japan, resulting in them formally being drawn into the Second World War as Germany and Italy declared war in response.
A similar joke in March
In March, Trump was asked why he did not warn allies in advance about his war on Iran, which was then less than three weeks old. He replied: ‘Well, one thing, 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.’
Leaning forward in his seat, Trump added: ‘Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?’ A quick burst of reactive chuckling quickly gave way to an excruciating silence as Takaichi shifted awkwardly in her seat.
Rare yen intervention
Yesterday’s intervention on the yen marked the first time in almost 30 years that the US has made such a move to strengthen the currency. While the yen has been struggling for a number of years, its slide has been additionally harmed by the energy crisis prompted by the war in Iran, with Japan particularly reliant on imports of oil and gas from the Middle East.
