Donald Trump is claiming that a slip of the tongue was to blame for his controversial denial of Russian interference in the 2016 US election - and he certainly has a history of muddling his words.
Reading from a script, Trump explained: “The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t, or why it wouldn’t be Russia [interfering],’” instead of “why it would”, Trump said. “So you can put that in,” he added.
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.
Here are five other examples of the US leader’s gift of the gab:
On ‘7/11’
While campaigning for the Republican nomination, Trump appeared to confuse the 11 September 2001 attack on US soil with American convenience store chain 7-Eleven.
On the campaign trail in Buffalo, New York, he said: “It’s very close to my heart because I was down there, and I watched our police and our firemen down at 7/11, down at the World Trade Center right after it came down, and I saw the greatest people I’ve ever seen in action.”
Unfortunately for him, Trump didn’t appear to realise his mistake, but those watching were quick to pick up on it.
On arming teachers
Following the Florida school shooting earlier this year, Trump met survivors of the massacre and told them, in front of reporters, that he was considering a proposal to arm teachers.
“If you had a teacher that was adept at firearms, they could very well end the attack quickly,” he said.
Trump later denied making the comment and hit out at media coverage of the incident.
He tweeted: “I never said ‘give teachers guns’ like was stated on Fake News @CNN and @NBC. What I said was to look at the possibility of giving ‘concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience – only the best. 20% of teachers, a lot, would now be able to immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions.”
On the Bible
Trump incorrectly referred to a section of the Bible as “Two Corinthians” instead of “Second Corinthians”, during a visit to an evangelical Christian college in Lynchburg, Virginia.
The mistake “led many to claim that his familiarity with the New Testament book - and the Bible itself - was not as strong as he claimed”, says the Daily Mail.
On big business
A further campaign trail gaffe indicates that numbers may not be Trump’s strong point.
Talking about Atlantic City, where he owns several buildings, he said: “If there is one word to describe Atlantic City, it’s ‘big business’.”
Realising his error, he added: “Or two words - big business.”
On Kim Jong Un
In another case of Trump vs. the mainstream media, the president tweeted to his followers about an interview in The Wall Street Journal, claiming he had been misquoted by the newspaper:
However, “in trying to rebuke the quote as a misquote, Trump misquoted the article and his own original statement”, notes The Independent.
The US paper actually reported Trump as saying: “I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un. I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised.”
In response, the paper released audio from the interview “which appeared to demonstrate that Trump’s comments were reported accurately”, adds The Independent.
-
3 officers killed in Pennsylvania shootingSpeed Read Police did not share the identities of the officers or the slain suspect, nor the motive or the focus of the still-active investigation
-
Fed cuts interest rates a quarter pointSpeed Read ‘The cut suggests a broader shift toward concern about cracks forming in the job market’
-
ABC shelves ‘Kimmel Live’ after Trump FCC threatSpeed Read ‘A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the president doesn’t like what they say’
-
ABC shelves ‘Kimmel Live’ after Trump FCC threat
Speed Read ‘A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the president doesn’t like what they say’
-
What is Donald Trump’s visit worth to the UK economy?In the Spotlight Centrepiece of the president’s trip, business-wise, is a ‘technology partnership’
-
Trump’s visit: the mouse and the walrusTalking Point Britain is keen to point to its own ‘tangible results’, but the US administration has made their demands clear
-
Supreme Court: Will it allow Trump’s tariffs?Feature Justices fast-track Trump’s appeal to see if his sweeping tariffs are unconstitutional
-
Venezuela: Was Trump’s air strike legal?Feature A Trump-ordered airstrike targeted a speedboat off the coast of Venezuela, killing all 11 passengers on board
-
3 killed in Trump’s second Venezuelan boat strikeSpeed Read Legal experts said Trump had no authority to order extrajudicial executions of noncombatants
-
Is Kash Patel’s fate sealed after Kirk shooting missteps?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The FBI’s bungled response in the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting has director Kash Patel in the hot seat
-
Russian drone tests Romania as Trump spinsSpeed Read Trump is ‘resisting congressional plans to impose newer and tougher penalties on Russia’s energy sector’
