White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has leapt to President Donald Trump’s defence after some criticised his speech at a summit in Davos, stating some had ‘misheard’ his remarks
Donald Trump’s press secretary has scrambled to deny a slew of embarrassing slip-ups made by the President in Davos, after he appeared to repeatedly mix up Greenland and Iceland during a speech that drew attention from around the world.
The blunder unfolded at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, January 21, where Trump delivered one of the most anticipated speeches of the summit. Trump’s Davos speech comes only days after the US President sparked fresh tensions with Europe, NATO allies, and the world with a trade tariffs dispute.
The US President repeatedly referred to “Iceland” when he appeared to mean “Greenland”, making the same mistake four times in a row.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly leapt to his defence on social media after Trump’s speech, insisting that the public had simply misheard him.
Responding to an accusation that he made the mix-up, the Press Secretary tweeted: “No he didn’t. His written remarks referred to Greenland as a “piece of ice” because that’s what it is. You’re the only one mixing anything up here.”
In the comments under Leavitt’s response to the NewsNation journalist, one social media user said: “It’s almost like there’s no video and the whole world didn’t see it.”
Another added: “It doesn’t matter what was in his written remarks. It’s what he said. Watch the clip and stop gaslighting people.”
The confusing mix-up kicked off when Trump claimed that NATO used to call him “daddy” him until he “told them about Iceland”.
Trump said: “I’m helping Europe. I’m helping NATO, and until the last few days when I told them about Iceland. When I told them about Iceland, they loved me.
“They called me ‘daddy’ right, last time, a very smart man said ‘he is our daddy’, ‘he is out running it’. I was stuck running it, I went from running it to being a terrible human being. But now what I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located.”
He added: “So they have a choice – you can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we will remember.”
The Greenland-Iceland mix-up wasn’t the only geographical gaffe in Trump’s speech. Referring to conflicts he claims to have ended, he once again mispronounced Azerbaijan as “Aberbaijan” – though this time he correctly named Armenia after previously calling it Albania.
Trump boasted about America’s global dominance to the more than 60 world leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum.
“No nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States,” he claimed, naming the right country this time. “We’re a great power. Much greater than people even understand. I think they found that out two weeks ago in Venezuela.”
Despite some criticism of the speech, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has insisted the speech was a roaring success.
“I know they were all very pleased with his speech. I was in the room, John, and it had rave reviews,” she told Fox News.
“I think the President really struck an inspirational tone with all of them today.”
