ANKARA: President Donald Trump referred to Iran as the "Islamic Republic of Japan" during remarks at the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday, the latest in a string of verbal slips that has renewed questions about the 80-year-old president's health.
Speaking to reporters alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump was describing a missile attack on the USS Abraham Lincoln when he made the error. "We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan," he said, adding that all of the missiles were intercepted. Iran's official name is the Islamic Republic of Iran; Japan has no role in the U.S.-Iran conflict.
The remark was one of several gaffes Trump made that day, including calling Zelenskyy "President Putin" and referring to the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran by an incorrect acronym.
Trump turned 80 on June 14. He was 78 years, 7 months old at his second inauguration in January 2025, making him the oldest person to assume the U.S. presidency.
The Ankara remarks follow a similar episode in January, when Trump repeatedly said "Iceland" instead of "Greenland" during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as he pressed for U.S. acquisition of the Danish territory. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially denied the mix-up despite video evidence.
Critics have also pointed to a pattern of confusion involving Japan specifically. In July 2025, Trump referred to then-Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as "Mr. Japan" while discussing tariff negotiations.
In March, during a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House, Trump was asked why the U.S. had not notified allies before striking Iran and responded, "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?" The comment, an apparent reference to Japan's 1941 attack on the U.S. naval base, drew criticism in Japan as diplomatically inappropriate.
The White House has defended Trump's fitness for office. Following his annual physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on May 26, presidential physician Capt. Sean Barbabella said Trump remained in "excellent health" and was "fully fit" to carry out his duties.
Trump said he scored a perfect 30 out of 30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a screening tool used to detect cognitive impairment. Medical experts have noted the test measures for signs of dementia rather than intelligence, as Trump has characterized it.
Despite the White House's assurances, Wednesday's remarks are likely to fuel continued speculation about the president's health.
