Your support helps us tell this story.
From reproductive rights to climate change to big tech, The Independent is at the heart of the action as the story unfolds. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump committee or producing our latest documentary, The Word, which shines a light on American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to get the facts out of reporting.
At such a critical time in U.S. history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to continue sending journalists to tell both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to keep Americans away from our reporting and analysis behind a paywall. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone and paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support is critical.Read more
President Donald Trump on Wednesday confused a current American adversary with a longtime foe when he told reporters that U.S. aircraft carriers came under fire from Japanese forces during a bilateral meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
The 80-year-old American president was in the middle of an impromptu news conference with the Ukrainian leader when he began extolling the virtues of American defensive weapons after what he said was an attack on a US warship. Abraham Lincoln.
“We had 111 missiles fired by the Islamic Republic of Japan. They were shot at the aircraft carrier for about an hour. 111 missiles headed towards a very expensive ship, and every one of those missiles was shot down, mostly by patriots, but also by other means,” he said.
The president appeared to be referring to an attack by Iranian forces on a U.S. aircraft carrier earlier this year, but instead attributed the attack to Japan, a country that has not fired a shot at the United States in anger in nearly a century. Although the Japanese military once threatened American aircraft carriers and other naval assets during World War II, the two countries became close allies after Japan’s defeat in that war and remain so to this day.
Moments later, Trump also confused Zelensky, who was seated next to him, with Russian leader Vladimir Putin when he asked reporters if they had “a question for President Putin,” prompting an outburst of laughter from the room before Trump tried to recover by repeating the prompt and suggesting that the reporter’s question be passed on to the Russian leader.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) meets with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit at the Bestepe presidential complex in Ankara, July 8, 2026. (Getty)
Trump’s confusion with Putin and Zelensky comes nearly two years to the day when Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, infamously introduced Zelensky as “President Putin” during a speech at the 2024 NATO summit in Washington, DC.
The president’s confused comments about Japan and the personality of the leader he was sitting with came just hours after he said a shaky ceasefire his negotiators struck with the de facto Islamic Republic of Iran in exchange for sanctions relief had ended after Tehran attacked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.
Speaking at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Ankara, Trump called Iran’s leaders “scum” and promised the US would “probably hit Iran hard again tonight” after US troops struck targets in Iran and Iranian forces carried out retaliatory strikes on US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain on Tuesday.
Speaking alongside NATO chief Mark Rutte, Trump said Iran was being run by “sick people”, adding: “I don’t want to deal with them anymore.”
US Central Command said it struck more than 60 small IRGC boats as punishment for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Washington also revoked the license allowing Iran to sell oil.
Iranian media previously reported explosions in Iran’s main oil hub on Kharg Island, Qeshm Island and the southern port cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas.
For his part, Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the United States could still try to seize Kharg Island and restore the blockade of Tehran’s ports.