Social media users reacted angrily, calling the remark clueless and mocking the apparent mix-up. Critics pointed to the moment as one in a series of public missteps that have prompted renewed questions about Trump's verbal slips and public performance.
This incident followed earlier gaffes this month: Trump repeatedly referred to Karoline Leavitt as Kellyanne Conway during a Women's History Month event, and at a photo op with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz he mistakenly suggested his father had been born in Germany — though his father was born in New York City.