US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said “the Islamic Republic of Japan” fired missiles at a US aircraft carrier, apparently confusing long-time ally Japan with Iran.
Trump made the remark during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Turkish capital Ankara on the sidelines of a Nato summit.
“We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan,” Trump said.
He went on to say that the missiles were shot at the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln over a period of one hour and they were intercepted.
The US navy has stationed 19 ships around the waters of Iran. It includes two aircraft carriers – the USS Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush – as well as an amphibious assault ship carrying over 1,000 Marines, 14 destroyers, a cruiser and an expeditionary sea base vessel.
Japan and the United States are long-time security allies and have been deepening cooperation in addressing threats from countries such as China and North Korea. Japan has also maintained amicable ties with Iran.