**President Trump Makes Pearl Harbor Joke During Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister** President Donald Trump made a comment referencing Japan's December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House on Thursday. The president was asked by a reporter why the U.S. did not inform Japan or other allies about its decision to strike Iran before it occurred. Trump responded, "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 Harbor?" The comment drew a few laughs from around the Oval Office, which was occupied by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other administration officials. Members of the Japanese delegation and members of the U.S. and Japanese press corps were also in the room. Trump's comment was in reference to the 1941 attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, which led to the United States' entry into World War II. Despite fighting on opposite sides of the war, the U.S. and Japan signed a peace treaty in September 1951 and have been allies since. The president went on to explain the importance of surprise in the ongoing war with Iran, which began late last month after the U.S. and Israel launched a joint operation against Iran. "We had to surprise them and we did and because of that surprise, the first two days we probably knocked out 50% of what we — much more than we anticipated doing. And if I go and tell everybody about it, it’s no longer a surprise," Trump said. Trump also made light of the war with Iran during a phone interview with NBC News last week, stating that the U.S. military had "totally demolished" most of Kharg Island, a strategic island off the coast of Iran that houses some of the nation's oil infrastructure. However, the president added that "we may hit it a few more times just for fun." During the bilateral meeting, the president answered several other questions about U.S. military operations in Iran, including questions about an upcoming funding request from the Pentagon and rising oil prices that have stemmed from the ongoing war. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Defense Department plans to request $200 billion from Congress to support ongoing military operations in Iran. Trump confirmed this number, stating that the request is "for a lot of reasons, beyond even what we're talking about in Iran." "This is a very volatile world, and the military equipment, the power of some of this weaponry is unthinkable. You don't even want to know about it," Trump said. "Oh, you could end this thing in two seconds if you wanted to, but we're not going to do that."