The truly astounding part about Trump's Pearl Harbor comment is that in his mind somehow the fact that another country launched a surprise attack some 85 years ago, that not only justifies him doing the same in the present day, but somehow also makes it a good idea.

Yes, Japan was able to neutralize most of the US Pacific Fleet, however their failure to follow up with any sort of strategic vision for dealing with the US in the long term led to their downfall. The attack was viewed as a heinous act even at the time, and shifted the largely isolationist US population into almost unanimously supporting the war (I think it was something like 90% of Americans supported joing the fight against not only Japan, but Germany and Italy too). And of course, Japan's Imperial aspirations also led to the other Allied nations uniting against them as well…

And this is why studying history is important, kids.