President Donald Trump was live on air with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky when he made the embarrassing slip, moments before referring to the Ukrainian leader as “President Putin”
President Donald Trump, 80, seemingly became confused during a press conference today when he spoke of attacks on the US Navy by the Islamic Republic of Japan.
The befuddled leader was sitting across from Ukraine ’s Volodymyr Zelensky when he embarked on a rambling description of the latest hostilities in the Persian Gulf.
Describing an attack on the US aircraft carrier the Abraham Lincoln, which is currently on deployment in the Middle East, Trump said: “We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan.
“They were shot at the aircraft carrier over a period of about one hour. 111 missiles going to a very expensive ship, and every one of those missiles was knocked down, pretty much most by patriots, but by other means also,” he said.
The president is seemingly referencing an attack on the US carrier earlier this year, by Iran, which has been trading strikes with US forces in the region since US-Israeli strikes started the conflict in February.
The gaffe saw the world leader confuse Iran with Japan, a country with a vaguely similar-sounding name but which has not been involved in a conflict with the US since World War II.
Moments later the perplexed president seemingly mixed up Zelensky — who was sitting beside him — with his mortal enemy the Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Trump asked reporters if they had “a question for President Putin,” sparking laughter from the assembled members of the press.
Trump tried to save face by repeating himself and suggesting he would take the reporter’s question to the Russian leader.
This is not the first time Zelensky has had to smile through his teeth as an aging US president has confused him with the Russian dictator.
At the 2035 NATO summit Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, famously introduced Zelensky as “President Putin” during a media event.
Trump’s muddled comments come just hours after he declared the ceasefire between the US and Islamic Republic of Iran (not Japan) was over. The declaration came after the US launched strikes on Iran following attacks on shipping in the Stair of Hormuz by Tehran.
Trump called Iranian leaders “scum” and vowed that the U.S. would “probably hit Iran hard again tonight” speaking at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Ankara today.
The US military said it had struck more than 60 small craft belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in retaliation for the Iranian attacks on ships in the strait.
The news sent oil prices rising once again and stock markets dropped worldwide. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% after Trump said the agreement to pause fighting was “over,” the Dow Jones was also down 1.4% while the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 7.2% to $79.48.
