Trump marks Pearl Harbor anniversary years after claim he didn’t know what it was

In 2020, a book by two Washington Post reporters claimed that Trump had limited knowledge of Pearl Harbor attack

Donald Trump marked the anniversary of Pearl Harbor on Thursday, years after it was claimed that the former president lacked knowledge about the attack.

Mr Trump posted a picture on his Truth Social social media platform with the words “Remembering Pearl Harbor” written over it.

This comes years after a book titled “A Very Stable Genius: Donald J Trump’s Testing of America” by two Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol D Leonnig claimed that the former president did not understand the history behind the attack.

The book, released in 2020, claimed that when Trump was president, he asked his then chief of staff John Kelly before a private tour of the USS Arizona Memorial: “Hey, John, what’s this all about? What’s this a tour of?”

The book added: “Trump had heard the phrase ‘Pearl Harbor’ and appeared to understand that he was visiting the scene of a historic battle, but he did not seem to know much else.”

The USS Arizona Memorial honours the sailors and marines who died in the 7 December attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

In 2017, during their visit to the historic site, Mr Trump, along with former first lady Melania Trump, offered a wreath of white flowers, bowed their heads during a moment of silence, and dropped petals into the water.

On X – known as Twitter back then – the ex-president posted a video of his Hawaii stop and said: “Remember #PearlHarbor. Remember the @USSArizona! A day I’ll never forget.”

The book claimed that Mr Trump was “at times dangerously uninformed”, citing a former senior White House adviser.

According to the authors, the portrayal of the former president stemmed from extensive interviews with over 200 sources, complemented by private videos, internal memos, diaries, and calendars. Despite initially agreeing to an interview with the two reporters, Mr Trump later withdrew his consent.

In January 2020, the former president wrote on X: “Another Fake Book by two third rate Washington Post reporters, has already proven to be inaccurately reported, to their great embarrassment, all for the purpose of demeaning and belittling a President who is getting great things done for our Country, at a record clip. Thank you!”