Hiroshima Mayor Invites Trump to Visit After Iran Nuke Strike Boast: ‘He Does Not Fully Understand the Reality’

(AP Photo, File)

The mayor of Hiroshima has called on President Donald Trump to visit the site of the 1945 atomic bombing after the president drew a parallel between the nuclear attacks that ended World War II and recent U.S. airstrikes on Iran.

Trump’s remarks were delivered in the wake of U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 at the NATO summit in The Hague last week, where he said: “That hit ended the war. I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing.”

The comments reportedly ignited backlash in Japan, where memories of the atomic bombings remain prominent. Hiroshima’s city assembly swiftly passed a resolution condemning remarks that “justify the use of atomic bombs,” while survivors held a small protest at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, who has spent years advocating for nuclear disarmament, told reporters on Wednesday: “It seems to me that he does not fully understand the reality of the atomic bombings, which, if used, take the lives of many innocent citizens, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, and threaten the survival of the human race.”

He added: “I wish that President Trump would visit the bombed area to see the reality of the atomic bombing and feel the spirit of Hiroshima, and then make statements.”

Roughly 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and another 74,000 in Nagasaki from the immediate blasts and the long-term effects of radiation following the atomic weapons dropped by the U.S., which prompted Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II.