European leaders couldn’t resist poking fun at Donald Trump this week after yet another geography blunder. The former U.S. president confused Albania with Azerbaijan—two very different countries—while boasting about his foreign policy record.
At a summit in Copenhagen on October 2, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama turned to French President Emmanuel Macron and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev with a grin. “You should apologize to us because you didn’t congratulate us on the peace deal that President Trump made between Albania and Azerbaijan,” he joked, according to Politico. The quip sent the trio into laughter, with Macron replying, “I’m sorry for that.”
The Confusion Explained
Trump has long claimed credit for brokering peace in the Caucasus, saying he helped calm tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In fact, in August, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Aliyev met at the White House, where they tentatively agreed to a peace deal. The agreement, however, remains unsigned.
But when recalling the event on Fox News, Trump muddled the details. “I solved wars that were unsolvable. Azerbaijan and Albania, it was going on for many, many years,” he said. The mix-up raised eyebrows and prompted quiet laughter abroad.
The EU leaders could be seen sharing a joke about the matter (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Another Slip-Up on the World Stage
The gaffe didn’t end there. During a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump again stumbled—this time mispronouncing Azerbaijan as “Aber-baijan.” He once more dragged Albania into the conversation, insisting:
“To think that we settled Aber-baijan and Albania, as an example. It was going on for years. It was never gonna be settled.”
Trump described the White House meeting in dramatic fashion, saying the leaders began on opposite ends of the Oval Office but eventually came together. “By the time we finished, we all hugged each other,” he claimed.
A Claim vs. Reality
While Trump continues to tout the meeting as a major personal victory, European leaders have treated the mix-up with humor rather than seriousness. For them, the slip highlighted Trump’s shaky grasp of geography and his eagerness to exaggerate achievements.
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