The mayor of Hiroshima, Kazuhiro Matsui, has issued a pointed invitation to former U.S. President Donald Trump, urging him to visit the city to understand the devastation caused by atomic bombs. This follows controversial remarks made by Trump comparing potential U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
Matsui expressed frustration over Trump’s comments during a recent NATO summit in The Hague, where the former president remarked that the use of atomic bombs on Japan had ended the war. The mayor emphasized that such rhetoric shows a lack of understanding about the catastrophic human cost of nuclear weapons and their long-term consequences.
“I want President Trump to come here to understand what an atomic bomb is and to experience the feeling of Hiroshima,” Matsui told reporters on July 2, 2025. He stressed that the bombings not only killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians but also posed a threat to the survival of humanity as a whole.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively—marking the only instances in history where nuclear weapons were used in warfare. An estimated 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki, many of them succumbing later due to radiation exposure. The bombings led to Japan’s surrender, effectively ending World War II.
Trump’s earlier comments came amid rising tensions following Israeli strikes on Iran in mid-June 2025, which culminated in a 12-day conflict and a subsequent ceasefire. His statements reignited outrage among survivors and peace advocates in Hiroshima, prompting protests and a formal condemnation from the city’s municipal council.
The mayor reiterated the importance of remembering the lessons of Hiroshima, calling for global leaders to prioritize diplomacy over militaristic solutions that risk repeating history.