Trump Brought up Pearl Harbor While Sitting Next to Japan's Prime Minister

President Trump has never been afraid of pushing boundaries, but even by his standards, invoking Pearl Harbor in front of the Japanese prime minister feels like pushing the envelope. During a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the Oval Office, Trump invoked Pearl Harbor in discussing the war on Iran.

Following the news that he had invoked one of the more horrific attacks on U.S. soil in the last 100 years, many wanted to better understand what exactly he said. Here's what we know.

When Trump was asked by a reporter why he didn't notify Japan or other allies before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, Trump decided that he would invoke the "surprise" of Pearl Harbor, per NBC.

“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?" he said.

“You believe in surprise, I think, much more than us," Trump said, referencing the attack on the U.S. Air Force base in Hawai'i that ultimately brought the United States into World War II.

The U.S. and Japan obviously fought on opposite sides of that war but signed a peace treaty in 1951 and have been allies ever since. Trump's invocation of Pearl Harbor drew jokes from some in the room, particularly members of Trump's cabinet.

Trump went on to further justify the attacks on Iran and explain why he felt surprise was so essential.

“We had to surprise them, and we did, and because of that surprise, the first two days we probably knocked out 50 percent of what we — much more than we anticipated doing. And if I go and tell everybody about it, it’s no longer a surprise,” he explained.

Trump's justification for the surprise attack comes as it's becoming increasingly clear that the war itself is unpopular, due chiefly to the economic costs of continuing the war. The Department of Defense is reportedly looking for $200 billion in additional funding to support the war from Congress, even though the Trump administration launched the strikes without first seeking Congressional approval.

“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. Oh, you could end this thing in two seconds if you wanted to,” Trump explained during the meeting, adding that the funding request for the war was also for things outside of Iran.

“Everything was going great, the economy was great, oil prices were very low, gasoline was dropping too,” the president added. “And I saw what was happening in Iran and I said, ‘I hate to make this excursion, but we have to do it,’ and I actually thought the numbers would be worse.”

Gas prices have jumped substantially following the attacks on Iran, chiefly because Iran has decided to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane.