Donald Trump said the “Islamic Republic of Japan” fired 111 missiles at the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln while he was speaking alongside Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit. The remark landed in the middle of a live exchange about Iran, and Trump appeared to mean Iran rather than Japan.
Trump told reporters, “We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan.” He added, “They were shot at the aircraft carrier over a period of about one hour.” He also said, “111 missiles going to a very expensive ship, and every one of those missiles was knocked down, pretty much most by patriots, but by other means also,” tying the episode to U.S. air defense claims rather than to Japan itself.
NATO summit exchange
The comment came on Wednesday during a bilateral meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump’s wording drew attention because he named Japan in a military context that the source links to Iran, and because Japan has not fired on an American aircraft carrier since World War II ended in 1945.
That history is the key reason the remark stood out. Japan and the United States became close allies after the U.S. defeated Japan in 1945, so the claim did not fit the country Trump named. Modern Japan is also described as a constitutional monarchy with no official religion, with a tiny Muslim population estimated at 420,000 and just ten percent of that population ethnically Japanese.
Iran, not Japan
The source says Trump appeared to be referring to an attack against an American carrier by Iranian forces earlier this year. That is the complication inside the remark: Trump said the attack was carried out by Japan, but the context points to Iran, not Japan.
The broader exchange unfolded amid heightened U.S.-Iran confrontation. Earlier in the week, Tehran attacked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. On Tuesday, American forces struck targets in Iran and Iranian forces retaliated against American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. US Central Command also said it struck more than 60 small boats of the IRGC, and Washington revoked a license allowing Iran to sell oil.
Trump’s next Iran move
Trump escalated the language again at the NATO summit in Ankara, saying the U.S. would “probably hit Iran hard again tonight,” and calling Iranian leaders “scum.” Speaking alongside Mark Rutte, Trump said, “I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” and described Iran’s leaders as “sick people.”
Trump also said the U.S. could yet try to seize Kharg Island and could reinstate a blockade on Tehran’s ports. The source does not set out any final decision on those moves, but it leaves the reader with the same immediate fact: Trump mixed up Japan and Iran while describing a missile attack that he said involved 111 missiles and the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln.
