President Donald Trump made a shocking joke during an Oval Office meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that prompted his guest to stiffen in her seat as she glanced around the room.

The two leaders met Thursday as Trump’s war in Iran continues to strain the global economy. Trump took the majority of questions from reporters before asking for one more from one of the “beautiful” Japanese correspondents.

He called on a man, who apparently seemed confused.

“He doesn’t think he’s beautiful,” Trump joked.

After the reporter asked Trump why he did not tell allies in Europe and Asia about his plan to attack Iran, saying it confused the Japanese people, Trump replied that he needed to count on the element of surprise.

“For one thing, you don’t want to signal too much, you know? When we went in, we went in very hard, and we didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise,” he said.

Then he went for another joke: “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? OK? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor? OK? Right?”

Takaichi, who speaks some English but was using an interpreter at times, straightened in her seat and tilted her head slightly to glance at her aides upon mention of Pearl Harbor.

“Hmm,” said the prime minister, who was born two decades after Imperial Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii.

Trump administration officials seated to the president’s left chuckled before silence gripped the room.

“No, you believe in surprise, I think much more so than us,” Trump went on.

“And we had a surprise,” he said. “We did.”

Thursday’s meeting marked Takaichi’s first visit to the White House since taking office last October.

Toward the beginning of the session, she heaped praise on her American counterpart, saying, “I firmly believe it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world.”

Despite Trump’s urging, Japan has not committed to sending its naval ships to escort commercial vessels traversing the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively shut down through threats to attack any ship that attempts a crossing.

Earlier this month, Takaichi pledged to have “candid talks” with Trump when they met.

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