Trump had a high profile Oval Office meeting that could have gone wrong in so many ways. So obviously it went wrong in a way that nobody could ever have predicted
Donald Trump told an off-colour joke about Pearl Harbour in front of the Prime Minister of Japan today. There’s not much you can add to that, other than that it’s actually kinda nice after all this time that he can still do things that shock people.
When he said it, it was like the room inhaled. Japan’s premier Sanae Takaichi’s smile dropped and her eyebrows raised. And that wasn’t even supposed to be the hard part of his conversation with her. Read on for more.
Meanwhile in Trumpworld
- He made some pretty bold claims about Iran
- He wants another $200bn from Congress for his war and/or other random things of his choosing
- The FBI is being sued for firing a couple of agents who investigated Trump
Here’s what you need to know
1. Donald Trump told the third worst joke you could possibly tell in front of the Japanese Prime Minister
Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi paid her first visit to the White House today, after getting all buddy-buddy with her during his visit to Japan last October. He even gave her his backing in the snap election she faced last month, which she won.
So there was some trepidation about her visit today, given Trump has spent every day this week ranting about how he wants other countries to come and bail him out in the Strait of Hormuz, something Japan has very much not agreed to do.
But in the end the sit-down spray in the Oval went pretty well. Well, it did until Trump cracked a joke about Pearl Harbour. Which is right up there with Hiroshima and Japanese Internment on the list of things you don’t crack a joke about if you’re having a meeting with the PM of Japan.
A Japanese reporter asked him why he didn’t inform US allies, including Japan, about his plan to bomb Iran.
“One thing, you don’t want to signal too much,” Trump replied. “We went in very hard, and we didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise.”
“Who knows better about surprise than Japan?” he joked, to some nervous laughter.
But the laughter stopped abruptly when he took the joke further.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbour? OK? Right?” Trump said.
Something is audible on the footage – either a gasp, or simply the sound of all the air being sucked out of the room.
Trump went on: “He’s asking me …no you believe in surprise much more than us. And we had to surprise them, and that’s what we did.”
He then swiftly moved on to other topics.
2. He claimed nobody in Iran is even shooting at US forces any more, which was awkward because…
Trump, during the Q&A in the Oval, claimed: “Their navy, air force, anti-aircraft equipment is gone. We’re flying where we want, we have nobody even shooting at us.”
Unfortunately he said this about half an hour after footage began to emerge which appeared to show an F16 being very much fired upon by Iranian forces.
3. Tulsi Gabbard spent the day squirming again
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence was up before Congress again today. And again, she wriggled and squirmed to get out of answering some pretty clear questions on Trump’s justification for the war in Iran.
For example:
4. Trump eventually admits Netanyahu did tell him about the oil field strikes
Trump said he had urged Netanyahu not to launch last night’s attack the Iranian part of the world’s largest gas field.
Asked if he’d spoken to the Israeli prime minister about the attack, Trump said, “Yeah, I did, I did. I told him, ‘Don’t do that.'”
Trump continued, “And he won’t do that.” But he added, “We’ve – we’re independent. We get along great. It’s coordinated. But, on occasion, he’ll do something. And if I don’t like it. And so we’re not doing that anymore.”
All of which is weird because last night, on Truth Social, Trump claimed nobody in the US had any idea it was going to happen.
Shrug.
5. Trump wants another TWO HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS for the war and other unspecified things
The Pentagon is signalling that it needs an additional $200 billion for the war with Iran, but Trump that his administration also needs it for other reasons.
“This is a very volatile world,” Trump said from the Oval Office. He said the emergency spending, which would need congressional approval, would be a “very small price to pay” to ensure the nation’s military stays in top shape.
Someone on Twitter – to my shame I cannot recall whom, but if it was you, do get in touch and I’ll credit you – suggested this sounded very much like the argument of a drunk. “I need some money”. “Sure, what for?” “Uhh just stuff, I dunno.”
Asked about the possibility of deploying U.S. ground troops to Iran, Trump said, “No. I’m not putting troops anywhere.”
He then said he could deploy military forces wherever he wants, and wouldn’t tell reporters about his plans.
6. FBI fired officers ‘solely’ because they investigated Trump’s attempted coup
The FBI fired two officers ‘solely’ because they investigated Donald Trump’s bid to overturn the 2020 election, according to a lawsuit filed today.
The two agents, identified as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 in the lawsuit, are part of a broader group of employees fired over the past year for their role in the election investigation known as Arctic Frost. Their lawsuit is the latest in a series of court challenges to a personnel purge under the leadership of FBI Director Kash Patel that has targeted agents who either contributed to investigations of the Republican president or were perceived as out of step with the administration’s agenda.
The agents say they were abruptly terminated in November despite spotless disciplinary records and “exemplary” ratings on performance reviews. Both say they were given no explanation for the firings but that the terminations came soon after Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who along with other Trump allies has asserted that Arctic Frost was politically motivated, released unredacted Department of Justice documents related to the investigation that exposed one of the agents’ names.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, seeks reinstatement and a court declaration that the terminations were unlawful.
The FBI declined to comment.