President Donald Trump on Thursday, seated next to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the Oval Office, compared the first U.S. strikes against Iran to Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II.

Not the Civil War — that was the bloodiest, 620,000 dead, with Americans falling on both sides. That ended three days shy of exactly four years. Not World War II — four months shorter. Not the Vietnam War.

High level officials usually shy away from public discussion of Japan’s 1941 sneak attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor.

WASHINGTON — President Trump defended his decision not to give Japan advance warning of his attack on Iran — citing Tokyo’s 1941 surprise raid that killed 2,403 Americans at Pearl Harbor. “We didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise,

"We didn't tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan?" the president responded while sitting next to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

President Trump's Pearl Harbor remark to justify his Iran attack sparked outrage in Japan. Critics called his comments ignorant and disrespectful, questioning Japan's equal partnership status. While Prime Minister Takaichi remained silent,

Gas prices hit an average of $3.89 a gallon nationwide and global oil prices surged after Israel attacked a critical Iranian natural gas field.

President Donald Trump has warned that the U.S. will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, prompting Tehran to say it would respond to any such strike with attacks on U.