Trump says he met with the "president of the Virgin Islands" — which is him

During a speech Trump didn't realize that he was the president of the U.S. Virgin Islands

Published October 14, 2017 7:35AM (EDT)

 (Getty/Mandel Ngan)
(Getty/Mandel Ngan)

During a speech on Friday afternoon President Donald Trump said on more than one occasion that he met with the president of the U.S. Virgin Islands without realizing that he was referring to himself.

"I will tell you I left Texas and I left Florida and I left Louisiana and I went to Puerto Rico and I met with the President of the Virgin Islands," Trump told the audience, according to CNN.

 

Trump had been touting his administration's response to the recent string of hurricanes, despite the criticism he's received for his lack of response to the damage in Puerto Rico. He spoke at the Values Voter Summit in Washington and became the first time a sitting president to speak at the annual gathering of Christian conservatives, a key portion of his base.

"We are one nation and we all hurt together, we hope together and we heal together," Trump said. "The Virgin Islands and the President of the Virgin Islands, these are people that are incredible people, they suffered gravely and we'll be there, we're going to be there, we have really, it is not even a question of a choice."

The White House later noted in the official transcript of the president's speech that Trump was referring to Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp, but no other statement has been issued.

It's not the first public gaffe made by the president, either. During a speech at the United Nations a couple of weeks ago the president praised the health care system of "Nambia," which is not a country, and had said it twice. It was later clarified that he had been referring to Namibia, a country in Southern Africa.

His administration has also had its fair share of gaffes, especially in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Energy Secretary referred to Puerto Rico as its own country during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on Thursday, only to be embarrassingly corrected.

 


By Charlie May

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