President Donald Trump turned heads on Monday after he repeatedly claimed he’s going to “Russia” on Friday—very openly confusing the country with the state of Alaska, the actual location where he plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for a highly anticipated summit.
Trump made the mix-up during a press conference about crime in Washington, D.C., where he has already moved to federalize the police and deploy the National Guard, citing inflated crime statistics that compared D.C. to Baghdad and Brasilia.
At one point, he complained:
“This is a tragic emergency, and it’s embarrassing for me to be up here. You know, I’m going to see Putin. I’m going to Russia on Friday.”
“I don’t like being up here, talking about how unsafe and how dirty and disgusting this once-beautiful capital [is].”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
At another, he said:
“It’s a big thing. We’re going to Russia. It’s going to be a big deal.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Trump’s words sparked concern—prompting many to point out that his regular verbal gaffes raise questions about his fitness for office.
The meeting will mark the first encounter between a U.S. president and Putin since 2021, when former President Joe Biden met him in Switzerland. It will also be Putin’s first visit to the United States in ten years—despite an active arrest warrant for him from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Trump claimed his meeting with Putin will be a “feel-out meeting” and that he’ll know within just a couple of minutes whether he can convince Putin to give back territory Russia stole from Ukraine after invading the country in 2022.
He said there would be “some swapping, changes in land”—and while that’s not the first time he’s used the phrase, he has not made clear what land Russia could cede to Ukraine.
