Trump Sparks Confusion After Referring to Iran as 'Islamic Republic of Japan' at NATO Summit

Brief By Twitter X / 2:18 PM on 09 Jul 2026

US President Donald Trump appeared to misspeak during the NATO summit in Türkiye, referring to Iran as the "Islamic Republic of Japan" while discussing a previous missile attack on a US warship. The remark quickly drew attention online. Trump later continued describing the intercepted missile barrage without addressing or correcting the apparent verbal error.