Trump meets with Spain's prime minister, calls him president in thank you tweet

Trump shakes hands with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 27 September 2017

President Trump and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy met at the White House on Tuesday, and afterward they said in a joint news conference that they had discussed fighting terrorism, North Korea, and other threats to democracy. Nevertheless, it was presumably a nice meeting. Trump thanked Rajoy in a tweet Tuesday evening, referring to him as "President MarianoraJoy."

Spain is a constitutional monarchy, and while the prime minister's Spanish title, presidente del gobierno, translates directly as "president of the government," the Spanish leader is formally referred to in English as prime minister. Presumably, Trump knows all that. Rajoy, a conservative, has been prime minister since 2011.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.