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Mar 19, 2026 - World

Donald Trump’s Oval Office appearance with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ended on a sour note after he made a tone-deaf comment about Japan attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941.At the end of what was a mostly cordial joint appearance, the president was asked why he did not alert the leadership of Japan and other allies about his impending attack on Iran.First stating that he didn’t want to lose the element of surprise, he took what seemed an awkward stab at a joke, saying, “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Okay, why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?"That led to a few scattered laughs and then some murmuring, as the president continued, “You believe in surprise, I think, much more so than us. And we had a surprise, and we did, and because of that surprise, we knocked out, the first two days, we probably knocked out 50% of what we — and much more than we anticipated doing. So if I go and tell everybody about it, there’s no longer a surprise, right?”Needless to say, social media lit up over the tasteless remark.Former Chicago Tribune editor Mark L Jacob was quick to respond with, “Trump jokes about Pearl Harbor with his guest, the Japanese prime minister. He’s mentally unhinged, with no impulse control or sense of what’s appropriate.”“I can’t believe that Trump just joked about Pearl Harbor while sitting next to Japan’s prime minister at the White House. What an absolute embarrassment!” added Democratic strategist Jon Cooper. Journalist Steven Beschloss added, “’Who knows more about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?’ -- the embarrassing idiot Donald Trump in response to a Japanese reporter's question about starting a war with Iran while sitting next to the Japanese prime minister.”Educator Orion noted, “You can hear the air go out of the room.”“This is another leak in the cognitive damn. Look for increasingly racist comments in the coming weeks. Unless biology steps in and saves us, I have a feeling we’ll hear the N word by the midterms,” predicted Democracy Dude.“I didn't think he could still make me gasp, but I was wrong,” admitted archivist Rubberband Girl Cheryl McNeilly noted. “My great-aunt Hisako was a Nagasaki survivor. Great-uncle was a pilot, brought her to US post-war. We saw her regularly till her death when I was 20. Sweet, gentle woman. First rule of the family was to NEVER discuss the war. Ever. Even when cancer finally killed her. The look on the PMs face ...”

Mar 19, 2026 - World

A very frustrated Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) lashed out at three of Donald Trump’s Cabinet officials on Thursday afternoon after they professed to only pass on intel data to the president and allow him to draw his own conclusions. During a very contentious five-minutes of questioning, Gomez repeatedly had to shout over Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and reclaim his time as she droned on about the president being the ultimate authority on how to interpret foreign intelligence. On Wednesday, Gabbard said at a Senate hearing, “It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat.”Asked on Thursday by Gomez if she stood by her assertion that astounded observers, she bluntly stated “yes,” which led him to turn to CIA Director John Ratcliffe and ask if he agreed with his Cabinet colleague.“The president is the Commander-in-Chief and gets to make a decision about what's an imminent threat —,” Ratcliffe began, before Gomez talked over him and the two refused to stop. Gomez got the upper hand and exclaimed, ”Why is that if the President can determine and ignore what you're doing, why do you guys even have a job? Why do you even advise them? So you're saying tomorrow the President of the United States can say China is an imminent threat and then he can take his own — no matter what the intelligence says, he can take his own action. That's what you're basically saying.” - YouTube youtu.be

Mar 19, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump made a shocking comment that left people in the Oval Office visibly uncomfortable on Thursday during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. A reporter asked Trump why he didn't tell U.S. allies, including European and Asian countries, such as Japan, that he was planning joint military strikes with Israel on Iran. Trump's response shocked the room — and left some people nervously laughing. "One thing, you don't want to signal too much when we go in," Trump said. "We went in very hard and we didn't tell anyone about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?" Trump: "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?" pic.twitter.com/O5t0EWoOkw— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 19, 2026

Mar 19, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump insisted that he wouldn't share war plans with a reporter just a second after sharing them with the man.During a White House event on Thursday, a reporter asked Trump about his intentions for the war in Iran."Mr. President, do you intend to lift sanctions on Iranian oil, and do you intend to potentially put U.S. troops or more troops in the region?" the correspondent wondered."No, I'm not putting troops anywhere," Trump snapped. "If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you. But I'm not putting troops. And we will do whatever is necessary to keep the price as well."Trump continued by bragging about the stock market despite its recent setbacks."Everything was going great. The economy was great. Oil prices were very low," the president insisted. "We had great everything. And I saw what was happening in Iran, and I said, I hate to make this excursion, but we're going to have to do it.""And I actually thought the numbers would be worse," he added. "I thought that it would go up more than it did. But we're doing this excursion. And when it's completed, we're going to have a much safer world."

Mar 19, 2026 - World

Stephen Miller’s Wednesday Night Fox News appearance boast on how well the Iran war was on the receiving end of a great deal of both mockery and fact-checking moments after a clip was posted on social media.Appearing with Fox News personality Laura Ingraham, the high-ranking Trump advisor insisted, “The United States has achieved its objectives even faster than anybody thought possible,” before adding, “President Trump was aware of and has calculated through every permutation and every degree of strategy ... by far the most overwhelming victory based on the objectives.”Critics were quick to point out that one of the “permutations” that Trump did not anticipate was Israel making matters worse, which the president complained about hours after Miller’s appearance, as well as the oil stranglehold Iran has imposed at the Strait of Hormuz.That led former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to quip on X, “He’s a genius of course.”“’Every permutation’ hahah,” contributed former White House correspondent John Harwood.Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) called out Trump officials routinely lying to Fox News viewers, saying, “Trump officials routinely disrespect and look down on Fox viewers and Fox hosts. Trump officials routinely and blatantly lie to Fox viewers and Fox hosts,” and included a video of Trump admitting he was “shocked” at Iran’s retaliatory response. Critic Mary Jane Wallace asked, “Does he really believe we are buying that?”Campaign for New York Health Executive Director Melanie D'Arrigo pointed out, “Anyone who has ever heard Trump speak knows this is an absolute lie.”“lol yeah and im sure he war gamed the part where his own party starts backing away,” wrote the account Sugnal Observer.