At Japanese state banquet, Trump recalls being surprised by the number of countries in the world


On Monday, President Trump told a gathering of Japanese officials at a state banquet that after he won last year's election, he was amazed to find out how many countries existed in the world.
Trump began his speech by extolling the virtues of golf diplomacy and talking at length about a U.S. Open tournament in 1980 in which Japanese golfer Isao Aoki and American Jack Nicklaus put on "one of the greatest putting displays anyone has ever seen." Trump then recounted the beginnings of his relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which he said "got off to quite a rocky start."
"I never ran, so I wasn't very experienced," Trump told the guests, explaining how he was unfamiliar with the conventions of public office. "And after I had won, everybody was calling me from all over the world. I never knew we had so many countries."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The president paused so an interpreter could relay his remarks, then continued to say that despite the fact that "you can only take so many calls from world leaders," he accepted Abe's call. Watch the full speech below, courtesy of the White House's official YouTube channel. Kelly O'Meara Morales
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
David Attenborough at 99: a 'radical' voice for climate action
In The Spotlight In his new film 'Ocean', TV's best-known naturalist delivers his strongest message yet
-
The Four Seasons: 'moving and funny' show stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey
The Week Recommends Netflix series follows three affluent mid-50s couples on a mini-break and the drama that ensues
-
Thunderbolts*: Florence Pugh stars in 'super-silly' yet 'terrific' film
The Week Recommends This is a Marvel movie with a difference, featuring an 'ill-matched squad of antiheroes'
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contraction
speed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported
-
Trump says he could bring back Ábrego García but won't
Speed Read At a rally to mark his 100th day in office, the president doubled down on his unpopular immigration and economic policies