Say what you like about Donald Trump, but he dishes it out to his friends’ faces, not just behind their backs. The polite half of the world was horrified when the US President invoked the attack on Pearl Harbour in front of the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.

Japan’s first woman PM, a conservative who styles herself on Margaret Thatcher, won a genuine landslide election recently, unlike Trump, who often boasts he did. But this didn’t spare this new Iron Lady from being the butt of his joke. 

Asked by a Japanese reporter why the US didn’t give allies like Japan the heads up before attacking Iran, Trump replied: “Who knows better about surprise than Japan… Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbour?”

Takaichi looked mildly startled, but kept her cool. It’s become something of a tradition for Trump to rib his guests. When the German chancellor Friedrich Merz mentioned D-Day on a visit to Washington last June, Trump jumped in ungallantly with: “This was not a pleasant day for you.”

Syrian leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa was offered Trump-branded cologne for himself and his wife at the White House in October. “How many [wives] do you have, one?” the President laughed. “One,” Al-Sharaa smiled, receiving a hearty slap on the back from Trump and the wisecrack, “With you guys, I........

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