US President Donald Trump appeared to confuse Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Russian President Vladimir Putin and misidentified Iran as an “Islamic Republic of Japan” during a press conference at this week’s NATO summit in Ankara, a pair of verbal slips that quickly circulated on social media and reignited questions about the 80-year-old leader’s mental sharpness.
The mix-ups unfolded Wednesday as Trump fielded questions from reporters while seated beside Zelensky on the sidelines of the summit, where NATO leaders have spent the week debating defence spending, military support for Ukraine and the future of transatlantic security amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Gesturing toward the Ukrainian leader, Trump asked the assembled press corps, “Do you have a question for President Putin?” When journalists appeared to correct him, Trump pressed forward rather than retreating from the remark.
“Do you have a question for President Putin? Not Zelensky. What would you like to ask him, because I’m going to ask him that question,” he said.
Minutes earlier, discussing an Iranian missile attack on a US aircraft carrier earlier this year, Trump had referred to Tehran by the wrong country entirely. “We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan; they were shot at the aircraft carrier,” Trump said, describing the barrage as being aimed at an American warship despite Japan having no role in the incident.
White House Defends ‘Marathon’ Performance
Asked by Newsweek about the comments, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not address the substance of either mix-up directly, instead framing the president’s overall showing at the summit in glowing terms. “President Trump delivered a marathon, high-energy performance at the NATO summit, holding four separate press availabilities plus a solo press conference and taking unscripted questions from reporters on a wide range of topics,” Leavitt said, adding that he “commanded every room” and left the gathering having strengthened the alliance.
The comments came on a day already dominated by dramatic developments in Trump’s approach to Iran. Earlier in the same appearance, Trump declared that the fragile ceasefire ending the U.S.-Iran war was, in his assessment, “over,” branding the country’s leadership “scum” and “cuckoo” following a fresh exchange of military strikes in the Middle East.
Not the First Time a President Has Mixed Up the Two Leaders
Verbal slips involving Zelensky and Putin are not unique to Trump. Then-President Joe Biden drew widespread attention in July 2024 for a similar mix-up, introducing Zelensky as “President Putin” at a NATO summit before quickly correcting himself.
That episode, along with other verbal stumbles during Biden’s final year in office, fueled sustained public debate over his age and cognitive fitness in the run-up to the 2024 election.
Commentators covering Wednesday’s exchange were quick to draw the parallel, noting that Trump, now 80 and in the second year of his second term, has faced his own recurring questions about mental and physical well-being, including scrutiny surrounding a third annual physical examination in thirteen months that critics say left key health questions unresolved.
Zelensky Downplays the Moment Amid High Stakes
Zelensky, seated beside Trump when the Putin remark was made, did not publicly challenge the president or make an issue of the mix-up in the moments captured on video, a response consistent with Ukraine’s broader posture of avoiding friction with an American administration whose continued military support Kyiv depends on. The Ukrainian leader has spent much of the Ankara summit pressing NATO allies for expanded air defenses and long-term security commitments even as Russian missile strikes continue to batter Kyiv.
The gaffes emerged against the backdrop of a summit already straining under geopolitical weight, with Trump using the gathering to press European allies over defense spending while simultaneously managing the sudden collapse of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Whether Wednesday’s mix-ups draw sustained political fallout or fade as a passing footnote to a turbulent news cycle may become clearer in the days ahead, as scrutiny of the president’s public appearances continues to intensify.
