# Trump did not know what happened at Pearl Harbor **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 17, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545 "2020-01-17T03:05:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/1 "2020-01-17T03:05:18Z")
He thinks it involved Washington or Lincoln [Trump reportedly doesn't know what happened at Pearl Harbor](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-reportedly-doesnt-know-happened-182600170.html) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/2 "2020-01-17T03:25:24Z")
I mean, this is the guy who said that the [Americans warred with the Brits over “airports” during the Revolutionary War.](https://time.com/5620936/donald-trump-revolutionary-war-airports/) ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/3 "2020-01-17T04:06:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I mean, this is the guy who said that the [Americans warred with the Brits over “airports” during the Revolutionary War.](https://time.com/5620936/donald-trump-revolutionary-war-airports/) I knew that was going to be brought up. It has been before. At the time I said that I didn’t think even Trump was that stupid. I was cleary wrong. The instrument has yet to be invented that can measure the stupidity of this man. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/4 "2020-01-17T04:22:27Z")
Pearl Harbor? Isn’t that where the Germans bombed us. But we decided it wasn’t over. (Pretty bad when Bluto is smarter than our Commander-in-Chief. At least Bluto knew it was one of the enemies from WWII that bombed us.) ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/5 "2020-01-17T07:30:13Z")
The Washington Post article linked to by OP’s link gives more disturbing details, e.g. > [@](#): > > President Trump reveals himself as woefully uninformed about the basics of geography, incorrectly telling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “It’s not like you’ve got China on your border.” He toys with awarding himself the Medal of Freedom. > … > “Tillerson’s years of negotiating with Putin and studying his moves on the chessboard were suddenly irrelevant,” the duo writes. “ ‘I have had a two-hour meeting with Putin,’ Trump told Tillerson. ‘That’s all I need to know. . . . I’ve sized it all up. I’ve got it.’ ” > … > Some details are more harmless than disconcerting. Early in his presidency, Trump agrees to participate in an HBO documentary that features judges and lawmakers — as well as all the living presidents — reading aloud from the Constitution. But Trump struggles and stumbles over the text, blaming others in the room for his mistakes and griping, “It’s like a foreign language.” > … > Some of the modest details in the book end up having larger consequences. After Trump bungles his India-China geography and seems to dismiss the threat China poses to India, for instance, the authors write that “Modi’s eyes bulged out in surprise.” > > “Modi’s expression gradually shifted, from shock and concern to resignation,” they continue, adding that one Trump aide concludes Modi probably “left that meeting and said, ‘This is not a serious man. I cannot count on this man as a partner.’ ” > > After the meeting, the aide explains to them, “ ‘the Indians took a step back’ in their diplomatic relations with the United States.” ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/6 "2020-01-17T10:32:56Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Trump did not know what happened at Pearl Harbor This is the least surprising thing I’ve heard today. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/7 "2020-01-17T13:41:03Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > He thinks it involved Washington or Lincoln > > [Trump reportedly doesn't know what happened at Pearl Harbor](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-reportedly-doesnt-know-happened-182600170.html) I have my doubts just based on the story: > [@Tim O'Donnell](#): > > He reportedly appeared to think he was visiting the site of a historic battle, which isn’t necessarily an inaccurate description — the attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise Japanese military strike against a U.S. naval base that prompted Washington’s entry into World War II. Huh? That is not “isn’t necessarily an inaccurate description.” That is an absolutely perfect description. Pearl Harbor was a battle, and was of historic significance. What the hell is O’Donnell talking about? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/8 "2020-01-17T13:56:23Z")
Using “Washington [D.C.]” as a synecdoche for the U.S. government is perfectly acceptable. I must, reluctantly, give the Grand Nagus a point for this. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/9 "2020-01-17T14:05:25Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I mean, this is the guy who said that the [Americans warred with the Brits over “airports” during the Revolutionary War.](https://time.com/5620936/donald-trump-revolutionary-war-airports/) I believe what happened there was that his teleprompter read that the Continentals “manned the ramparts”, but Loser Donald had no idea what a “rampart” was or how to use “manned” as a verb, so he stumbled over his own tongue until he found an adjacent phrase that made sense to his addled brain. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/10 "2020-01-17T14:05:36Z")
why did he ask “What’s this about?” If he knew the whole story? ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/11 "2020-01-17T14:09:31Z")
Donald Trump didn’t know something. I, for one, am shocked. Shocked I tells ya! … Oh, wait, no the opposite of that. Donald Trump is unbelievably ignorant. He’s even ignorant on subjects that you would think that as a successful (oh god, make it stop) businessman he wouldn’t be so ignorant. Trump is proof that if you could only get (steal) $400 million, you too, could be rich. And probably richer than Trump since his track record in business is dismal. Trump’s only useful (it hurts, please no more) skill is somehow convincing people that he’s a successful businessman. He created this myth around himself, that kind of stuck for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/12 "2020-01-17T14:16:16Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I believe what happened there was that his teleprompter read that the Continentals “manned the ramparts”, but Loser Donald had no idea what a “rampart” was or how to use “manned” as a verb, so he stumbled over his own tongue until he found an adjacent phrase that made sense to his addled brain. _O’er the airports we watched Were so gallantly streaming. And the rocket’s red glare, The bombs bursting in air…_ Yeah… it makes sense that you’d have rockets and bombs at an airport. “Ramparts” doesn’t make any sense, right? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/13 "2020-01-17T14:33:09Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I believe what happened there was that his teleprompter read that the Continentals “manned the ramparts”, but Loser Donald had no idea what a “rampart” was or how to use “manned” as a verb, so he stumbled over his own tongue until he found an adjacent phrase that made sense to his addled brain. So he thought that they had “rammed the manparts”? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/14 "2020-01-17T16:34:43Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have my doubts just based on the story: > Huh? > > That is not “isn’t necessarily an inaccurate description.” That is an absolutely perfect description. Pearl Harbor was a battle, and was of historic significance. What the hell is O’Donnell talking about? Did you read my #5? It has quotes from the WP article based on _A Very Stable Genius_, a new book by Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig. Not as good as quoting from the book, but better than discussing the “meat” as first filtered by Yahoo, then by OP. The quote your responding to was a 4th-hand impression of what seems like an interesting book. Let’s discuss the interesting book, please, not the result of a game of “Gossip.” ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/15 "2020-01-17T16:42:30Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > why did he ask “What’s this about?” If he knew the whole story? Maybe he didn’t ask that? When the term “reportedly said,” is used (as was used in the article) I take it with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/16 "2020-01-17T16:52:21Z")
Can you imagine the unholy shitstorm that would erupt if a staffer told Trump about the Zimmerman telegram, wherein back in January of '17, Germany proposed a military alliance with Mexico to fight the United States? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/17 "2020-01-17T17:28:07Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > why did he ask “What’s this about?” If he knew the whole story? Absent context, we don’t know. Since you’re drawing that quote from a story that implies Pearl Harbor wasn’t exactly a historic battle, consider the source. Donald Trump is an ignoramus, but this is a dreadful bit of reporting. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/18 "2020-01-17T17:35:02Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Can you imagine the unholy shitstorm that would erupt if a staffer told Trump about the Zimmerman telegram, wherein back in January of '17, Germany proposed a military alliance with Mexico to fight the United States? The Florida guy who shot that black kid? Am I giving him a medal? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/19 "2020-01-17T18:40:09Z")
That’s not the worst thing in the book, by far. The “Trump is an Ignorant Idiot” anecdotes are amusing but I prefer to save my derision for the really scary stuff. > **[New book portrays Trump as erratic, ‘at times dangerously uninformed’](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-book-portrays-trump-as-erratic-at-times-dangerously-uninformed/2020/01/15/4d45bf44-370f-11ea-a01d-b7cc8ec1a85d_story.html)** > > “A Very Stable Genius,” by two Washington Post reporters, shows “how decision-making in his administration has been driven by one man’s self-centered and unthinking logic — but a logic nonetheless.” QUOTE FROM THE ARTICLE “In Spring 2017, Trump also clashed with Tillerson when he told him he wanted his help getting rid of the Corrupt Foreign Practices Act, a 1977 law that prevents US firms and individuals from bribing foreign officials for business deals. “It’s just so unfair that US companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas” Trump says, according to the book. “We’re going to change that”. So much for his corruption fighting narrative I’ve got to admit that I find three words in the above story hard to believe, and that is the phrase “clashed with Tillerson”. I’m surprised he wasn’t on board. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545/20 "2020-01-17T19:57:20Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > “_ **It’s just so unfair that US companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes** _ to get business overseas” Trump says, according to the book. “We’re going to change that”. I find the wording of this very questionable. I don’t doubt that Trump might _ **want** _ American companies to be able to bribe or illicit foreign officials, but I highly doubt he’d actually \*\*\*say \*\*\*things that bluntly. This whole sentence smacks of poorly-written projection by the book author. That would be like a tell-all book about Bill Clinton, “quoting” Clinton, _ **“It’s so unfair that I can’t have an extramarital blowjob with my 25-year old intern in the Oval Office and then commit perjury as well!”** _ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-did-not-know-what-happened-at-pearl-harbor/846545.md?page=2)