President Donald Trump may need a refresher on the fact that the Virgin Islands are actually part of the United States.
Speaking with conservative voters at the Values Voter Summit on Friday morning, Trump said he recently met with the “President of the Virgin Islands”–presumably meaning the governor of the island territory.
The islands are a United States territory–so Trump is the president. The island does have a governor, Kenneth Mapp, whom Trump met with earlier this month.
“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 said, speaking about the numerous hurricanes that have affected the U.S. “These are people that are incredible people. They’ve suffered gravely and we’ll be there. We’re going to be there… it’s not even a question of a choice. We don’t even want a choice. We’re going to be there as Americans. We love those people and what they’ve gone through.”
Trump says he met with the "president of the Virgin Islands."
— David Mack (@davidmackau) October 13, 2017
*cough* he is the president of the Virgin islands, which is a US territory pic.twitter.com/8MLjqjTGb7
The official White House transcript corrected Trump’s remarks by putting “governor” in brackets next to “president.”
The official White House transcript of Trump saying he met with the "president" of the Virgin Islands (aka himself). 😂 pic.twitter.com/AWJLMxCgmF
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) October 13, 2017
Trump’s flub comes just one day after Energy Secretary Rick Perry made a similar mistake about Puerto Rico.
During a subcommittee hearing, Perry referred to the island territory as a “country.” Perry did correct himself during the meeting.
Obviously, people enjoyed Trump’s mistake.
PICTURED: Trump meeting with the President of the Virgin Islands pic.twitter.com/lGgxC6gXp5
— bobby cappucino (@bobbycappucino) October 13, 2017
Trump says he met with the "president of the Virgin Islands."
— David Mack (@davidmackau) October 13, 2017
*cough* he is the president of the Virgin islands, which is a US territory pic.twitter.com/8MLjqjTGb7
https://twitter.com/IELoots/status/918877025682710528
Trump forgot he was President of the Virgin Islands. That, or he just thought it was a blue state.#VVS17
— Passport Control (@PassportCtrlSho) October 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/Cristiano2113/status/918877661123952640