US President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested he was not looking at deploying more soldiers to the Middle East while drawing a parallel to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour and US strikes on Iran during a meeting with Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi in the White House.
"I'm not putting troops anywhere," Trump said, asked by a reporter whether he was planning to send more service members to the region. "If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you. But I'm not putting troops. We will do whatever is necessary to keep the price."
"We wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbour?" Trump said when a journalist asked why he had not told allies about his war plans.
Takaichi's eyes widened, and she shifted in her chair as Trump, seated beside her in the Oval Office, evoked the moment that drew the US into the Second World War.
"You believe in surprise, I think much more so than us", the President added.
The Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, killed 2,390 Americans, and the U.S. declared war on Japan the next day.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it "a date which will live in infamy."
The U.S. defeated Japan in August 1945, days after U.S. atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed hundreds of thousands of civilians.
At the White House, Donald Trump hosted Sanae Takaichi, praising Japan for “stepping up” on Iran while criticising NATO as less supportive.
Even as he insisted the US “doesn’t need help,” Trump pushed for allied efforts to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with Tokyo backing moves to stabilise energy markets and ensure safe passage, while maintaining diplomatic outreach to Iran amid rising tensions.
Condemning Iran's attacks on its Gulf neighbours, Takaichi believed that only the US President can bring peace and prosperity to the world.
Opposing Tehran's nuclear weapons development, the Japanese PM said that, "The global security environment, including the current Middle East situation, is extremely grave, and the world economy is also under significant strain."
"However, I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace and prosperity across the world. I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to achieve our objective together. Today, I have come to convey that message," Takaichi said.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration is considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce the Iran operation, citing a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter.
