Trump makes uncomfortable Pearl Harbor joke in front of Japanese Prime Minister

Donald Trump left a room in shocked silence after making a joke about the attack on Pearl Harbor in front of the Japanese Prime Minister.

The aftermath of the surprise attack on the US naval base was described as 'a date that will live in infamy' by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941.

In a press briefing with Japanese prime minster Sanae Takaichi, Trump went on to make a joke about the attack.

A Japanese journalist asked the US president about why the US didn't inform its allies about its plans to attack Iran, to which Trump responded by saying that the US 'went in very hard' and 'didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise.'

Things started to become awkward when the US president then said: “Who knows better about surprise than Japan?”

While this comment drew polite laughter from US officials in the meeting, the room was then plunged into silence at Trump's next remark.

Turning to Sanae, Trump said: “Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?” Have a listen here:

One person could be heard audibly groaning, before the room was plunged into silence.

Trump then went back to the question, saying: “You believe in surprise much more so than us. He’s asking me about surprise, and we did.”

He added: “And because of that surprise, we knocked out ... we probably knocked out 50 percent ... and much more than we anticipated doing.

"So if I go and tell everybody about it, there's no longer a surprise."

One X user said in their view, Sanae was 'obviously upset' by the 'unnecessary' comment.

Things took a awkward turn during Trump's Oval Office meeting with Sanae Takaichi (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Another accused the president of 'insulting Japan openly'.

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941 ended with four US battleships sunk and four others seriously damaged after hundreds of Japanese planes swarmed the US naval base.

It was the moment that brought the US fully into World War 2.

Over 2,400 US service personnel and civilians were killed in the attack, and it was the deadliest attack on US soil until the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Seven of the ships were salvaged and returned to service.

The memorial at the USS Arizona (Glowimages/Getty)

However, the USS Arizona was hit by a bomb which penetrated to a magazine containing explosives, instantly killing 1,177 sailors and marines on board in a blast which tore the ship apart.

Many of the bodies of those on board were never recovered from the wreckage, and the wreck of the Arizona was left on the harbor floor, where it is now a war grave.

While Japan has never formally apologized for the surprise attack, the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed 'sincere and everlasting condolences' to the US and Japanese people killed in the fighting.