President Trump appears to misunderstand Iran as the “Islamic Republic of Japan”
President Trump incorrectly referred to Iran as the “Islamic Republic of Japan” at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
President Donald Trump falsely said that the Islamic Republic of Japan fired 111 missiles at a US aircraft carrier “months ago.”
He made this comment to the press on July 8, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
“We have one of the most beautiful aircraft carriers in the world, the largest aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln,” President Trump said. “And a few months ago, and I talked about this yesterday, 111 missiles were launched from the Islamic Republic of Japan.”
The president went on to say that missiles were fired at the carrier for an hour and were all intercepted.
USS Abraham Lincoln and the Iran War
In February, the United States shot down a drone that approached “aggressively” the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln as it sailed in the Arabian Sea, about 500 miles off Iran’s southern coast, USA TODAY previously reported. The incident occurred just before the United States and Israel attacked Iran, beginning what is now a four-month war.
The following month, Iran announced it had attacked the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with a ballistic missile. U.S. Central Command disputed the report in a post on X, writing, “Lincoln was not attacked. The fired missiles were not even close. Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of Centcom’s relentless operations to eliminate the Iranian regime’s threat and protect the American people.”
Japan-US military alliance
The United States and Japan have had a military alliance for nearly 75 years. According to the official US Congress website, the two countries signed the treaty in 1952, seven years after the end of World War II. The two countries have also concluded a mutual defense agreement, and approximately 60,000 US troops are currently stationed around Japan.
Drew Pittock covers trending news from around the country for USA TODAY. He can be reached at DPittock@usatodayco.com.
