In early July 2026, social media users claimed U.S. President Donald Trump said the "Islamic Republic of Japan" fired 111 missiles at an American aircraft carrier.
The rumor spread across X and Facebook. Many of the posts circulating online included a short clip appearing to show Trump making the apparent gaffe.
Trump did, in fact, say, "We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan" at an American aircraft carrier. He made this statement on July 8 while speaking to the press alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
As such, we have rated this claim as a correct attribution.
Presumably, Trump meant the Islamic Republic of Iran, not Japan, although the White House did not clarify his remarks. A question about the president's mental acuity also went unanswered.
"President Trump delivered a marathon, high-energy performance at the NATO summit, holding four separate press availabilities plus a solo press conference and taking unscripted questions from reporters on a wide range of topics," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an emailed statement. "The President commanded every room, gave our allies some much-needed tough love, and left the summit with a stronger NATO and more united free world."
Trump's full remarks are available on the White House
Trump was answering a question about a U.S.-made air-defense weapon, Patriot interceptor missiles (at 11:22 or 11:08, emphasis ours):
REPORTER: Mr. President, will you allow Europe to make Patriot interceptors in Europe? Are you comfortable with licensing that technology?
TRUMP: About what, tell me?
REPORTER: Patriot interceptors, to be made in Europe.
TRUMP: And you're talking about with respect to Ukraine. Well, we're going to talk about that. It's a defensive weapon, which I like — better than an offensive weapon. It's the best.
So, I was saying, we have an aircraft carrier, which is one of the most beautiful in the world. It's one of the biggest. The Abraham Lincoln. And two months ago — I told this story yesterday — we had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan. They were shot at the aircraft carrier over a period of about one hour — 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, as you know. Other less-expensive means, it's even better when you do that.
Trump later said (at 13:04 or 12:56) that the United States would grant Ukraine the right to make Patriots — the only weapon in Ukraine's arsenal that can intercept ballistic missiles, according to Reuters.
Iran claimed in early 2026 that it had struck the USS Abraham Lincoln, which U.S. Central Command denied in a March X post, stating the missiles "didn't even come close."
During the news conference, Trump also pointed to Zelenskyy and asked for questions for "President Putin" in an apparent gaffe, before stating that he wanted to relay questions to Putin that journalists might have (see 19:56 or 19:50).